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FINAL REPORT
AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
J.E.J. Fahlgren,
Commissioner
June 1985
the ROYAL COMMISSION on the
NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
OP THE
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
J. E. J. Fahlgren, Commissioner
Marc S. Couse, Executive Director
Ian S. Fraser, Director of Research
Marlene Brushett, Administrator
Lesley Andersen, Office Manager - Thunder Bay
C. Gaylord Watkins, Counsel
Roger Cotton, Associate Counsel
11 : OZ
June 1985
Published by the Ontario Ministry
of the Attorney General
Printed in Canada - 1985
ISBN 0-7729-0628-9
Copies are available in person from:
Ontario Government Book Store
880 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
Or by mail through:
Ministry of Government Services
Publication Services
5th Floor
880 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1N8
For information call 965-6015 or toll-free 1-800-268-7540; from
area code 807, ask operator for Zenith 67200.
Royal Commission
on the Northern
Environment
180 Dundas Street West
Suite 2005
Toronto, Ontario M5G IZi
From the Office of
the Commissioner
June 28, 1985
The Honourable James Bradley, Minister
Ministry of the Environment
Suite 100
135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1P5
Dear Minister,
Further to Orders-in-Council 1900/77 and 2316/78
establishing the Royal Commission on the Northern
Environment under the Public Inquiries Act, my inquiry is
completed.
I am pleased to deliver to you today four copies of
the report and four copies of six major studies which
served me well in preparing my final recommendations. A
list of the six studies is attached.
I trust that you and your colleagues will find
cause to give these recommendations careful consideration.
It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the
Province of Ontario in the capacity of Commissioner since
August 2nd, 1978.
Yours very truly.
J.E.J. Fahlgren
The Honourable James Bradley
List of Studies
1) Tourism Development in Ontario North of 50°
- 4 volumes.
2) The Future of Mineral Development in the
Province of Ontario - North of 50" with 13
accompanying technical papers.
3) The People of the North - In Quest of
Understanding.
4) The Story of the Kiashke River Native
Development Inc.
5) North of 50°: An Atlas of Far Northern
Ontario.
6) The Kayahna Region Land Utilization and
Occupancy Study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
An inquiry destined to involve human, animal and plant life,
the purity of air and water, and the preservation of Ontario's
heritage encompassing that northern half of the province's land
mass above the 50th parallel could not be undertaken nor
accomplished without the dedication, interest, co-operation and
support of hundreds of people in the way of staff, communities.
Chambers of Commerce, associations and researchers.
This report is based on the massive evidence presented and
researched, the experience and wealth of knowledge imparted by all
who participated in one way or another to assist me. I am
responsible for the final recommendations presented in this
report, and the time element the inquiry's broad mandate required.
To the hundreds of Ontarians who have assisted me in my task,
I extend a grateful handgrip with sincere thanks, and to the many
good friendships established over these years.
A special thanks to Justice E. Pat Hartt, whom I succeeded as
Commissioner of the Inquiry, for his advice, and support in the
transition; Marc Couse, my Executive Director for his dedication,
expertise and support beyond the line of duty; Lesley Andersen,
who so ably set up and managed our Head Office in Thunder Bay;
George McLeod of Timmins , who with a wealth of northern experience
and personal acquaintances of the Chiefs and Councils across the
north, directed my first visits to the reserves and introduced me
to the people; Ruth Burkholder, manager of the Timmins office; Ian
Fraser, Director of Research and Cathy Potter, assistant
researcher; William Mamakeeslck, who interpreted for us during
visits and hearings; Thomas Fiddler, Elder Emeritus of the north
for his wisdom; Chief Gerry McKay, Chairman Kayahna Tribal Area
Council; Charles Morris, Administrator - Big Trout Lake; Chief
Harvey Yesno of Fort Hope; Chief Enus Crowe and Councillor Archie
Stoney of Fort Severn; Chairman Mike Wabasse of Summer beaver and
Leonard Sugarhead , community resource worker; Joyce Kleinf elder.
Anthropologist; Andrew Yesno of Fort Hope; our Counsel, Gaylord
Watkins and Roger Cotton, who very effectively, during the
hearings sought out the questions and reviewed the legislation
pertinent to the Commission's inquiry; Theodore P. Castonguay and
Miss Leslie E. Malcolm, official Court Reporters, and last, but
certainly not least - Thomas Lambert (retired) and Marlene
Brushett, my Administrators, respectively, whose experience and
abilities to control our funded projects and operating budgets
while maintaining good communication with the Ministries of the
Environment and the Attorney General, speak for itself.
Finally, to my wife Helen, my heartfelt thanks for
persevering through my long absences from home and the devastating
fire that gutted our home, our libraries, music and collections of
40 years.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Chapter 1 Introduction l-l
Chapter 2 The Need for Institutional Change 2-1
Chapter 3 Protecting the Northern Environment 3-1
Chapter 4 The Indian People in the North of Ontario 4-1
Chapter 5 The Northern Forest 5-1
Chapter 6 Mining 6-1
Chapter 7 Tourism 7-1
Chapter 8 Planning in the North 8-2
Chapter 9 Resource-Dependent Communities 9-1
Chapter 10 The Future: A Strategy for Community and
Sectoral Planning 10-1
Summary of Recommendations R-1
Table of Contents
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Orders in Council 1900/77, 2316/78, 3679/81
Mr. Justice E.P. Hartt Recommendations and
Proposals for Action
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Public Funding
Commissioner's letter to Premier W.G. Davis
making Interim Recommendation
Appendix 5
Commissioner's letter to the Minister of the
Natural Resources re Interim Recommendation
Appendix 6
Commissioner's letter to the Minister of the
Environment re Interim Recommendation
Appendix 7
Commissioner's letter to the Minister of the
Environment re Environmental Assessment Act and
Land Use Planning
Appendix 8
Appendix 9
Presentations to the Commission, November,
1977, to September, 1983
Written Submissions and Exhibits
Appendix 10
Appendix 11
Appendix 12
Appendix 13
Published Reports
Commission Publications Depositories
Staff List
North-West Angle Treaty #3, Lake Winnipeg
Treaty //5 , The James Bay Treaty //9
Appendix 14
Staff Paper: The Ministry of Natural Resources'
Planning Activities in Ontario North of 50
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment has examined
a wide range of issues directly affecting the northern half of the
Province of Ontario and indirectly, the entire province. The
Commission found that the northern environment, the people who
live there and their communities, are extremely vulnerable to the
impacts of large scale resource development. These people do not
have the capacity to influence the course of development. Nor are
there counter-balancing mechanisms in place to ensure that
northerners benefit from development and the northern environment
is not irreparably harmed in the process.
Some counter-balancing mechanisms already exist but have not
been extensively used. The assessment procedures under the
Environmental Assessment Act are useful in determining if the
northern environment can sustain proposed developments and in
examining alternative undertakings. The Commission recommends
that the Environmental Assessment Act apply to all undertakings
proposed in the north which are found by the Ministry of the
Environment to have potentially significant environmental effects.
Such undertakings include private enterprises, such as forest
cutting operations and mines as well as related infrastructure
like access roads. Also included are public or governmental
projects and programs, including the Ministry of Natural
Resources' resource allocation and management guidelines or
plans.
New counter-balancing mechanisms are required so that
specific developments can be better designed to harmonize with and
contribute to the betterment of the northern environment. The
Commission recommends that an independent agency - the Northern
Development Authority - be established and empowered to negotiate
mandatory resource use agreements with enterprises proposing
significant development of northern resources. The Commission
contemplates that mitigation of adverse impacts, compensation for
other resource users likely to be deprived of their livelihoods,
construction of multi-purpose infrastructure, employment and local
business opportunities would be normal subjects of resource use
agreements. Northerners would administer the Northern Development
Authority - and reflect the interests of northern people,
including Indian people, and their towns, municipalities and
communities.
The Commission has concluded that of all possible economic
activities in the north, tourism has the greatest potential. It
recommends that the Government of Ontario consider tourism as a
major commercial activity in Ontario north of 50, and as the
primary activity in the more remote parts of the farther north.
Tourism management areas should be designated by the Government in
which tourism is to be the dominant activity and resource use.
Security of tenure was found by the Commission to be essential to
the viability of private tourism enterprises on Crown land. The
Commission recommends that the Government of Ontario sell Crown
land to viable tourism enterprises after three years of operation.
The Coramisison also recommends that Indian people be given
priority in the establishing of tourism facilities and enterprises
on Crown land in the farther north.
- 2 -
A number of the Commission's recommendations addressed the
need to strengthen the tourism industry in the north and related
resource management, particularly of northern fish and game
stocks.
The dominant industry in the north today is the forest
products industry. The environmental consequences of cutting
trees, transporting timber, regeneration and other forest
management activities were reviewed in some detail by the
Commission. It has concluded that the boreal forest is
particularly sensitive to clear cutting and other forest industry
practices. The Commission recommends that the Ministry of Natural
Resources formulate special "Standards for Cutting the Boreal
Forest" and strengthen its Forest Resources Inventory so that it
contains information on regeneration capability which can be used
when decisions on allocating forest land for cutting are made.
The Commission found that considerable controversy exists
over the condition of the province's forest and status of
regeneration of it after cutting. Adequate information on these
matters is lacking. It recommends that an Inspector of Forests be
appointed to head an independent Forest Audit Agency with powers
and responsibilities similar to the Provincial Auditor. The
Inspector of Forests would report annually to the Legislature on
such matters as the condition of the forests, the conduct of
forest management by the Ministry of Natural Resources and forest
products companies and the extent and success of regeneration.
The Commission has concluded that the forest management
agreements gradually being introduced by the Ministry of Natural
Resources for company management units are, in general, beneficial
to the northern environment. These agreements give security of
tenure to a company which performs specified forest management and
regeneration responsibilities aimed at introducing sustained yield
management to the forest land involved. Sustained yield means
that no more should be cut than the forest can grow in any one
year.
The Commission recommends that the Ministry of Natural
Resources bring all company management units under forest manage-
ment agreements by December 31, 1988. Further, it recommends that
the Ministry of Natural Resources be required to manage all crown
management units on a sustained yield basis as well.
Certain recommendations of the Commission are directed to
improving the standard forest management agreement and in
particular to enable the designation of forest protection areas
well in advance of cutting plans. These are areas which are
environmentally sensitive or which are in their natural state by
other resource users. Forest protection areas would, if the
Commission's recommendations are implemented, be designated by the
Minister of Natural Resources at the request of any interested
party provided that no objection to such designation was received.
Where designation is disputed, the Commission recommends that the
Northern Development Authority be empowered to decide whether
designation should occur and under what conditions.
- 3 -
The Commission has recognized that modified forms of cutting
should be appropriate in the boreal forest and that special
methods of cutting might be used in forest protection areas. The
Commission recommends that the Ministry of Natural Resources
consider requiring all cutting in environmentally sensitive areas
and forest protection areas to be carried out by specialized
cutting companies. It has recommended that environmental
assessments of cutting methods be carried out so that an
information base is established on the environmental effects of
cutting methods in representative boreal forest areas.
The Commission found that the Province of Ontario and forest
products companies must accelerate the rate at which cut over
forest land is being successfully regenerated. The Commission
recommends that at least 80% of cut over areas be planted
immediately after cutting with seedlings possessing genetic
capacity for faster growth and larger timber volume. The
Commission also recommends that the backlog of cutover forest land
not sufficiently regenerated be rehabilitated over the next 20
years and that rehabilitaiton efforts be focused on forest land
most likely to sustain regrowth which are closest to existing mill
sites and on forest lands around communities in which the
principle employer is the forest products industry. Further, the
Commission recommends that intensive forestry activity such as
thinning, spacing and fertilization be expanded so that by 1990
all areas artifically seeded or planted are spaced and thinned at
intervals of time acceptable to the Inspector of Forests.
On the basis of independent research carried out by Lakehead
University, the Commission has concluded that wood supply in
Ontario's forest cannot support expanded wood processing capacity.
It accordingly recommends that the Government of Ontario freeze
mill capacity until sustained yield forest management improves the
wood supply situation.
It was the prospect of a new pulp and paper mill and the
grant of the largest tract of forest land ever given to a single
company which lay behind the establishment of the Commission. But
the new Reed mill contemplated in 1977 is no longer an economic
proposition. Nor does Reed Ltd.'s successor, Great Lakes Forest
Products Ltd., require wood from the Reed tract for its Dryden
mill complex. The Commission recommends that the Reed Agreement
be repudiated by the Government of Ontario and no part of the
tract be licensed for cutting until the Commission's major
recommendations with respect to the northern forest are
implemented.
A related matter involves the effects on White Dog and Grassy
Narrows of mercury pollution of the river system from which these
communities derived employment and sustenance. The Commission
recommends that until the claims of White Dog and Grassy Narrows
are settled, the Government of Ontario should not grant any
cutting rights to Great Lakes Forest Products Ltd., or any
subsequent owner of the Dryden Mill Complex, in forest land
outside existing company management units.
- 4 -
Another major industry in the north which is likely to
contribute substantially to the northern economy in the future is
the raining industry. The Commission has found that this industry
is relatively neglected by the Government of Ontario. The
Commission recommends that the Ministry of Mines be reestablished
and that its geological and technical staff undertake innovative
research, mapping, geochemical testing, airborne geophysics and
diamond drilling in support of similar initiatives by industry.
The Commission also recommends that the Ministry of Mines review
the appropriateness of existing taxes borne by the raining industry
and recommend reforms which would encourage greater exploration
and development of mineral resources.
The environmental implications of mining development were
acknowledged by the Commission. It recommended that new mining
reduction mills or expansions of existing mills should incorporate
the latest proven pollution abatement technologies. Further, such
undertakings would be subject to environmental assessment given
the Commission's recommendaitons that all significant undertakings
in the north be brought under the Environmental Assessment Act .
The Indian people of the north, who make up most of the
population there, were a major preoccupation of the Commission.
The unacceptable conditions of life in many Indian communities
pose long term problems for the federal Government, which has
primary responsibility for Indians under the Canadian
Constitution. Problems are also posed for the Government of
Ontario which must carry the expanding burden of educational and
social assistance payments arising from the more rapid growth of
the Indian population and the inadequate land base of their
cotmnunities in the north of Ontario.
To help provide a better land base, the Commission recommends
that the Government of Ontario grant Crown land to Indian
communities north of 50. It recommends procedures for selecting
the land to be granted involving an independent Northern Land
Commissioner appointed under the Public Inquiries Act . The Crown
lands to be granted should help meet community needs for food
gathering, housing, community facilities, water supply, energy,
fuel and building materials. The Commission recommends that that
Government grant all rights in such lands, including mineral
rights. An Indian community would then have similar rights in
these lands as it has to land in its reserve.
The Commission also recommends that community use areas be
designated north of 50 in which hunting, fishing and trapping by
Indian persons would have priority over other resource users,
unless a resource use agreement has been negotiated by the
Northern Development Authority. The designation of community use
areas would flow from applicaitons by any Indian community located
north of 50 to the Minister of Natural Resources. If the Minister
was satisfied that the community relied on the area for hunting,
fishing and trapping, designation would follow. Existing rights
of use of occupancy would be excluded from community use areas.
Public access along waterways and reasonable public recreational
and tourism uses would continue.
- 5 -
The Commission heard evidence of the conflicts which continue
to exist between the Ministry of Natural Resources and
northerners, including Indian communities, on the appropriateness
of Ministry restrictions on levels of hunting, fishing and
trapping. The Commission recommends that an independent scientist
acceptable to affected northern communities be appointed to decide
on the appropriateness of such restrictions. The scientist's
decisions would be binding on all parties.
Of particular concern to the Commission was the adequacy of
educational opportunities available to Indian people north of 50.
In a number of recommendations, the Commission calls for stronger
and more relevant Indian community schools with grades 9 and 10 to
allow children to remain in the community, and elected school
boards with responsibility for administration and delivery of all
educational services in the community. Special curricula should
be developed for community schools to accommodate the community's
desire for education in traditional culture. The Commission also
calls for a special high school for Indian students with technical
and vocational options considered useful by representatives of
Indian community school boards.
The Commission also recommends that the Ministry of Natural
Resources train and employ Indian Conservation Officers who would
reside in Indian communities and have responsibility for conser-
vation in community use areas.
A prominent feature of the northern environment is the
resource-dependent community. There, most amenities taken for
granted by people living in southern communities of the province
do not exist. The Commission recommends that a special fund be
established by the Government of Ontario to be used for medical,
educational, cultural and recreational purposes in communities
north of 50. The fund would be financed by allocating a
percentage of revenues collected by the Government from mining and
forest undertakings north of 50 in the form of underground mining
taxes and stumpage fees. The fund should be administered by a
board of northerners.
Land and resource use planning was another major area
investigated by the Commission. It has concluded that the land
use planning exercise undertaken by the Ministry of Natural
Resources is fundamentally flawed. The process did not include
the participation of the Indian people of the north or their
resource use or gathering needs. The resource production targets
and allocation specified in the plans or guidelines were not
subjected to environmental assessment.
The Commission recommends that any planning process in the
north involve wide public participation, include advisory groups
representing affected interests and be supported by timely
dissemination of information to northern communities. The
Commission recommends also that the Ministry of Natural Resources
should publish its land use "guidelines" for the northern
districts (West Patricia, Geraldton and Moosonee) but should state
clearly in such documents that the guide-lines have no official
status and will not be used in allocating particular resources.
- 6 -
As already indicated, the Commission has called for the
application of the Environmental Assessment Act to proposals,
plans, programs, and resource management plans in the north.
The Environmental Assessment Act is seen by the Commission as
a key mechanism for ensuring the betterment of the northern
environment. Experience with the Act and its procedures to date
permits the Commission to make a number of technical recommend-
ations to improve the Act's functioning. An expanded role is seen
for the recently appointed Environmental Assessment Advisory
Committee. Recommendations are made with respect to greater
public notice requirements, better access to the record estab-
lished by the Ministry of the Environment for proposed
undertakings - particularly for northern communities, the funding
of public participation in the environmental assessment process
and methods for resolving inter-provincial and federal-provincial
conflicts in environmental assessments. The Commission cannot
accept the use of class environmental assessments for environ-
mentally significant undertakings proposed for north of 50, such
as access roads and forest management plans. It recommends the
strengthening of "bump-up" provisions to permit environmental
assessments of particular undertakings if requested by affected
persons or triggered by resource use conflicts or unique
ecological circumstances.
The Commission sees a special role for community and sectoral
planning in the north of the province. The final chapter of its
report contains a lengthy discussion of these matters.
LOCATION OF ONTARIO NORTH OF 50°
PLATE 1
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
Cartography by the Departmenl of Geography, Uniyerslly of Toronto
O NTARIO NORTH OF 50
aaO ORC> n
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PLATE 2
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ROVAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHElNTN^N^i^NN/i,^
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y by the Department of Geography. University of Toronto
I
THE SUBARCTIC SETTING
PLATE 3
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
Cartography by the Dspartmenl ol Gsography, Unlvsrslty of Toronio
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This is a report of a Royal Commission that has looked into
that most complex of inter-relationships: man and nature. It was
begun out of concern about the fragile environment of a
geographically, economically and ecologically unique part of the
Province of Ontario. Over the past eight years, the Commissions 's
work has Involved exploration of most major aspects of the
northern half of Ontario that has remained, for too long, as
unknown to the rest of the province as it is vital. It is ray
earnest hope that this report and its recommendations will be read
as a new source of understanding of Ontario north of 50.
Following my decision, made with great enthusiasm, to
complete the work of the Royal Commission on the Northern
Environment, I proceeded to study the geography of this vast
province to better understand the relationships of the north and
the south of this province.
I found that by concentrating on the geography of the world's
surface, its form and physical features, the uniqueness of the
Province of Ontario stood out as most fascinating. If you make a
point to centre your eyes on Ontario, as you see North America
flash by on the television screen, you too will be cognizant of
its uniqueness.
On the maps of the world and compared to other provinces,
states and countries, Ontario's remarkable and characteristic
physical geography clearly stands out, influencing a vast region
from the 57th parallel in the north to the 42nd parallel in the
south. Its geography is the reason for the importance the
Province of Ontario has established for itself and Canada in the
continental northern hemisphere.
This uniqueness originates from the aftermath of a colossal
violent incursion of shattering force into the North American land
mass (some say by asteroid or massive meteorites) that centred on
the area within the Precambrian Shield now identified by the
formidable Hudson and James Bays (roughly 1120 kms long by
1120 kms wide). The massive incursion produced a great, if not
the greatest, visible depression into the earth's crust and
therewith developed the tremendous Hudson Bay Basin with its
drainage boundaries which is exemplified by the foremost rivers
(Severn, Winisk, Attawapiskat , Albany, Missinaib/Mattagami/Moose,
Abitibi, Harricanaw, La Grande, Nottoway, Rupert, Great Whale,
Eastmain, Hayes, Nelson, Churchill, Kazan and Thelon) flowing into
the basin from all directions through the enveloping Precambrian
Shield. Moreover, this incursion precipitated much volcanic
action, and explosive eruption throughout the shield. Later the
Hudson Bay Basin was to become a natural anchor of the Laurentide
ice sheet.
Introduction
1-2
Unquestionably this violent incursion, that ignited
cataclysmic action, down warped basins, troughs, and concurrent
major folding and faulting both within and along the outer
perimeter of the Precambrian Shield produced a majestic half
circle, marking in a step arrangement the imposing deep-seated
Great Lakes Basin (Lake Superior-406 metres deep. Lake Huron-229
metres. Lake Erie-65 metres and Lake Ontario-245 metres), and
St. Lawrence River that generally conform to the southern
shoreline of the Hudson and James Bays. Major lake development
also followed the perimeter of the shield west and northward,
clearly defined by the Lake of the Woods, Lakes Winnipeg/
Manitoba/Winnipegosis , Cedar Lake, Lac la Ronge, Reindeer Lake,
Lake Athabaska, Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake.
Following the arc of these developed lakes along the
perimeter of the Precambrian shield, strangely enough is a similar
circle of confirmed meteorite craters encircling the Hudson and
James Bays (a third of the world's largest craters). Canada's
greatest metal deposits have, up to now, been found in and along
the same circle. While the Sudbury basin is listed as a confirmed
meteorite crater, recent studies by the Ontario Geological survey
raise a question - is it related to several volcanic calderas?
The resultant world-renowned Great Lakes chain, the largest
fresh water system in the world, not only defines Ontario's
southern boundary but provides open ocean access to its inland
harbours. Ontario alone controls the northern half of the Great
Lakes, but the southern half is shared by eight American states —
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New York. While western Canada's southern
boundary is set at the 49th parallel, the formation pattern of the
Great Lakes waterway extends Ontario 1127 kilometres deep into the
continent to the 42nd parallel, reaching into the heartland of
North America's greatest density of population, to a point where
the earth's latitude would circle northern California, Italy, part
of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the
Sea of Japan.
The location of the Hudson and James Bays, that mark
Ontario's northern boundary, permits the frigid Arctic waters and
ice flows to intrude some 1127 kilometres into the continental
land mass. Northern Ontario along with Quebec on its eastern
flank are therefore subject to subarctic environments, similar to
conditions found in the far Northwest Territories above the 60th
parallel. These arctic environments are consequently thrust
further south than almost anywhere on earth, subjecting the
province to the strengths and weaknesses that they represent.
The fact that the subarctic environments penetrate so deeply
south into Ontario establishes the basic reason for the fragility
of the boreal forest north of the 50th parallel.
It is remarkable therefore, that at the federal level
Ontario's north is viewed more as typical of southern Ontario,
rather than similar to the Northwest Territories, and that the
Introduction
1-3
Ontario Government has not looked upon its north as distinctly
different with a separate set of problems.
Ontario north of 50 is filled with paradoxes: it is far
enough away from the centralized south of the province to keep
people from examining it carefully with full understanding of its
needs; yet it is near enough to make it vulnerable to the effects
of economic plans and social patterns that do not take those needs
into consideration. Too often, its people find that others, when
they bother to think of the north at all, conceive of it as being
precisely like the rest of the province — only colder.
Perhaps it is possible to communicate the differences by
drawing just a few parallels between north and south: in January,
the average mean temperature in Thunder Bay is -15°C; it is -5°C
in Toronto and -3°C in Windsor; the average on the shore of Hudson
Bay is -25°C. In Toronto, there are, on the average, more than
2,000 hours of sunlight annually; Moosonee , on James Bay, gets
only 1,700 hours on average (even Churchill, Manitoba, three
degrees of latitude north of Moosonee, gets an average of more
than 1,800 hours of sun annually.)
There are other telling contrasts as well: in the extreme
southern portion of Ontario on the rim of Lake Erie, grow
varieties of trees (e.g. hickory, sycamore, magnolias, dogwood)
which are designated as "Carolinean forest" — that is, they are
types common to the forested areas around North Carolina. By
contrast, the growth in Ontario north of 50 is "boreal forest".
The term "boreal" refers to things northern and is used to
describe trees which can withstand extremes of cold and dryness.
The forests are almost entirely conifer — but not of the type
most southerners know; it is too cold for the white pine,
Ontario's woodland symbol, for example. Instead, we have black
spruce — trees crowned with bluish-black needles. Standing
densely at the southern edge of the forest, they become more and
more widely spaced until, south of Hudson Bay, they disappear in
favor of sub-Arctic vegetation.
I stress these are just examples of differences; as will
become clear in the following pages, differences permeate most
aspects of life north of 50. My emphasis on this is deliberate:
unless and until it is understood and accepted, the problems this
Commission set out to delineate will not be faced realistically
and, therefore, will not be treated sensibly.
A key to understanding the north lies in its geological,
historical and economic past. The structure of this chapter
reflects that fact: it begins with an overview of the geography,
climate, biology, geology, history and economics, and ends with a
history of the Commission itself. Subsequent chapters examine the
environment, the people and the industries of the north, as well
as related issues arising from these topics. For each I have set
out my recommendations, along with some perspective on how and why
I have arrived at my conclusions.
Introduation
1-4
I have never had much time for those who believe that the
answer for the north lies in forming its own province. There
appears to be a renewed interest in Ontario's northern heritage
and a spirit of gooa will toward the people of Ontario's north, a
willingness to examine their concerns, and to seek realistic and
reasonable solutions. In fact many northerners have remarked that
they have found government ministries and agencies, during the
life-time of this Commission, to be more responsive to their
petitions and questions, and shown an increased respect for their
opinions. Separation is neither needed nor wanted — in fact, it
can be an excuse for not getting down to the tasks at hand. In my
view, and in the view of many of the people who made submissions,
the very existence of this Royal Commission can be the first step
toward new approaches, new plans and a renewed existence for
Ontario north of 50.
It is in that spirit which I begin this Report.
THE PLACE
Seen on a map, northern Ontario could be the profile of a
man, head tilted back, looking up and east into Hudson Bay. His
chin is delineated by the Moosonee and Albany rivers; the tip of
his nose by Cape Henrietta Maria; his hairline by Fort Severn.
West to the Manitoba border and south to the 50th parallel, the
"head", in fact, is a sweep of 540,000 square kilometres — half
the area of the entire Province of Ontario.
This is the land that lies south of Hudson Bay and west of
James Bay. Spanning more than six degrees of latitude, its
surface is marked by an abundance of water, a pleasing diversity
of vegetation and a sparsity of people. Beneath it lies an array
of mineral potential, some long-known, and others unidentified.
As in the rest of the province, the climate north of 50 is
affected by the amount of sunlight it receives and by the air
streams that rush across it. Within the area, the bleakest
conditions are those of the Hudson Bay coast, where constant winds
of high velocity prevail. It is a hard land, harsher even than
other places with which it shares the 50th and more northern
parallels. In July, the average mean temperature in Glasgow and
on the south shore of the Hudson Bay (both of which lie
approximately on the 55th parallel) is 12°C. In those days of
high summer, however, at about the time the waters of Hudson and
James Bays begin to warm, the weather has already passed its
hottest peak and, on the land bordering the water, cooling has
begun. The extent to which these bays cool northern Ontario is
most evident in winter, when the average mean temperature on the
shore of Hudson Bay has fallen to -25°C while it's a balmy plus
3°C in Glasgow.
By contrast, the southwestern corner of Ontario north of 50,
which is frost-free longest, shares some of the climate of
Canada's prairies. Generally, however, climatic patterns in this
Introduation
1-5
part of the world run in diagonal belts from northwest to
southeast, parallel to the coasts of Hudson and James Bays.
If parts of Ontario's north appear barren, in reality the
region's geological formations are rich in variety and
resources. The lakes and rivers, forests and rocky outcroppings ,
deposits of gravel, sand and silt cloak bedrock which is the
result of two different periods of pre-human history. By far the
older is the Precambrian Shield, named for that period between the
first cooling of the earth's crust and the appearance of types of
organic life far enough advanced to have left fossil evidence —
the initial three billion years of the earth's geological history,
(The Precambrian Shield is an ellipse reaching from the Atlantic
on the east to the Arctic Sea on the far northwest, south and west
into Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.) Most of the Precambrian
is a multi-colored, hard rock which varies in texture from
granite-like coarseness to the fine graininess of basalt. As
well, the area is marked with mineral-rich volcanic belts which
have existed for nearly two-and-a-half billion years.
The glaciers of various ages marked the north as they
advanced and retreated across it. Some 12,000 to 25,000 years
ago, the region lay under the Laurentide ice sheet. As it
advanced, the glacier scoured and scraped the earth's surface,
clearing it of soil, eroding and etching the bedrock in its path.
In its retreat, some 7,000 years ago, the Laurentide left behind a
mixture of clay, sand, gravel and boulders in extensive sheets
(known as "till") or as ridges ("moraines").
Other formations were left by glacial movement: long ridges
("eskers") of stratified pebbles and other materials were
deposited in the raeltwaters which flowed within and beneath the
ice. The low-ridged karaes and small deltas formed as raeltwater
poured sediments into lakes and depressions of land. The outwash
planes laid down materials washed out from the front of a receding
or stationary ice sheet.
Still other kinds of deposition took place as the Laurentide
ice sheet retreated beyond Ontario north of 50. Two very large
freshwater lakes, Agassiz and Barlow-Ojibway, were created by
waters from the retreating ice. These lakes existed long enough
to deposit and leave behind lacustrine (lake bed) sediments and
shoreline features on the present-day landscape.
The ice sheet was so heavy that it depressed the surface of
the land crust beneath and further depressed the area of the
Hudson Bay Basin. As the ice began to retreat from Ontario north
of 50 and its weight began to be removed, the land surface started
to rise through a process called "crustal rebound". Following the
departure of the ice sheet from the region, sea waters from what
is now Hudson Bay invaded the still depressed, low-lying plains
corresponding generally to the Paleozoic rocks of the Lowlands,
and laid upon them extensive, unconsolidated marine (sea-bed)
sediments. Later, as crustal rebound continued, the sea waters
drained off, leaving behind these sediments and a series of
Introduction
1-6
prominent beach ridges parallel to the present coast of Hudson
Bay. For a time, the Sutton Hills were islands in Hudson Bay. As
the land continued to rise, and the waters to recede, they became
part of the mainland. Geologically speaking, the retreat of the
ice sheet is so recent that the crustal rebound is still
proceeding; new land continues to emerge gradually from Hudson Bay
to this day.
With the gradual receding of the glaciers and their waters,
vegetable and animal forms of life began to appear on the
landscape. Beyond the stands of black spruce, there is the
northern tundra: stunted vegetation — grass and shrubs — which
seldom reaches more than a few centimetres because it stands,
shallowly rooted, on moist, heavy soil layered over permafrost.
Moreover, the extreme cold kills off new growth easily. Any
vegetation in this part of the world has resisted a hostile
environment and when it grows in spite of the ever-present cold,
it grows slowly. A bit of grass or a small shrub may represent
many seasons of life which is why a fire in the area, which can
wipe out in seconds a one-centimetre trunk that took 150 years to
grow, is an almost unspeakable devastation.
More than half the entire region comprises lakes, rivers and
wetlands. The waters of the Shield area are complex, marked by
waterfalls and rapids, while the Lowlands are veined with
criss-crossing rivers that are long, straight and run in wide
channels. Shallow lakes and water-saturated soil, with their
effect on vegetation, show just how poorly developed Lowland
drainage systems are.
In Ontario north of 50, water drains primarily in a
northeastward pattern toward Hudson Bay and James Bay. Many of
the largest rivers — the Moosonee, Albany, Attawapiskat , Winisk
and Severn — flow directly toward the Bays. The Wabigoon-
English-Winnipeg river system drains westward to Lake Winnipeg and
ultimately to Hudson Bay through the Nelson River.
It is this fresh water which draws people and, over the span
of history, determines where they will live and carry on their
economic activities.
In addition to people, where there is edible vegetation,
there are animals. Along with naturally-occurring fires, changing
climatic conditions and human activities, they also alter the
environment. The work of beavers, for example, has made changes
to the drainage systems of the area.
In addition to beavers, the significant animal populations of
the lowland's region include muskrat , fox (both red and Arctic),
mink, marten, coastal caribou, black bears and, on the shores of
Hudson Bay and James Bay, polar bears.
This is just an overview of the place known as Ontario north
of 50. In other sections of my report, it will become clear that
Intpoduotion
1-7
environment in many ways sets the options open to the people of
the north.
THE PEOPLE
The first people of the region probably arrived not long
after the glacial retreat — some 8,000 years ago. Climatic
conditions, similar to today, would have permitted nomadic bands
to hunt and fish; in fact, there was a short period, some 6,000
years ago, when temperatures were significantly higher than they
are today.
The Ojibwa and Cree-speaking peoples (described as people of
the Algonkian linquistic group) camped along the network of
freshwater lakes and rivers which were a source of food as well as
a mode of transportation making it possible to establish and
maintain communications with others. Nomads who moved in small
groups in response to the rhythm of the seasons, the availability
of food and the human need for contact, were an advanced society.
Its members, in the time of Christ, were making ceramic pottery,
using precious metals and trading with each other over long
distances.
Europeans did not come to the region until much later, in the
early 17th Century, when they arrived on the eastern coast of what
is now Hudson Bay. Henry Hudson was first in 1610-11, followed in
1631 by Luke Foxe of Hull and Thomas James of Bristol, who sailed
from England within two days of each other. Their
names and exploits are remembered today in the Foxe Channel, which
lies in the Northwest Territories; in James Bay and in Cape
Henrietta Maria, named after the ship James' fellow citizens
outfitted for his use. It was James who, in 1632, complained
bitterly of the torment caused by an "infinite abundance of
blood-thirsty Muskitoes" ; and it was he who sailed to Cape
Henrietta Maria and there planted a cross bearing the Royal arms
and those of his native city. Thomas James discovered and named
what he called the "Severne" after the English river. Tradition
holds that Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who lived for a time in
Bristol, used James' "strange and dangerous voyage" as the
inspiration for his Rime of the Ancient Mariner .
The Hudson's Bay Company (actually, "The Governor and Company
of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay") was
incorporated on May 2, 1670, and given exclusive trading rights in
that vast territory which drains into Hudson Bay — in effect, all
of what is now Ontario north of 50, excepting a small area that
drains into the Great Lakes.
The Company quickly began fur trading, building posts at
Moose Fort in 1673, Albany in 1675 and Severn in 1685. This was
the period, of course, when France and England competed for
control of all of eastern North America and each sent successive
waves of explorers to claim the land. In the century after the
Treaty of Paris in 1763, when France ceded its control of its
North American possessions, all of Ontario north of 50 was part of
Introduction
l-i
the area known as Rupert's Land and, as such, fell under the
control of the Hudson's Bay Company.
The Company's influence over the region had already begun to
dwindle in 1884, when the Canadian Pacific Railway —
Sir John A. Macdonald's grand ribbon of nationhood — was
completed across Ontario. Following the shore of Lake Superior to
Fort William and then westward through Ignace and Kenora to
Winnipeg, the route was initially nothing more or less than an act
of faith, the Old Man's determination to ensure an all-Canadian
line, in defiance of a geography which dictated that it should dip
into American territory.
The significance of the railway route was upheld when Prime
Minister Bennett, during the depression, initiated highway
projects which became the Trans-Canada Highway through the rough
terrain of northern Ontario. This was not the case with Prime
Minister Mackenzie King when it came to constructing the Inter-
Provincial Pipe Line from Edmonton that was to leave Canada in
Manitoba and cross American states to reappear at Sarnia — giving
Superior, Wisconsin, instead of Thunder Bay, the refinery.
Northern Ontario would have suffered the same fate with
respect to the Trans-Canada Gas Pipeline, except for Premier
Leslie Frost who, with the urging of a small group of businessmen
from northwestern Ontario, challenged Ottawa, and assured the
pipeline would be built across all of Ontario by committing
Ontario finances to make it a fact.
At the beginning of this century, Ontario had a population of
more than two million people, most of whom lived on small farms or
in towns and villages in the south. The north was as distant and
mysterious as the far side of the mooa. From time to time,
members of the Geological Survey of Canada had explored the area
between the CPR line and James Bay but were still convinced that
the Precambrian rock offered little of value (though deposits of
copper/nickel ore had been discovered at Sudbury when the railway
was being built). There were pioneering farm families immediately
south of 50 in the Haileybury/New Liskeard area who were pressing
the provincial Government for a road or railway to take their
goods to market. In 1900, the Ontario Government sent 10 survey
parties into the region from the Quebec border to Lake Nipigon.
The findings of these groups of land surveyors, geologists and
soil experts were unexpectedly dramatic: there were nearly 6 1/2-
million hectares of arable land in the so-called Clay Belt,
extending from Lake Timiskaming nearly as far west as Lake Nipigon
itself. In addition, they reported, there was an "almost
unlimited quantity of the best spruce for the manufacture of pulp
and paper".
The province moved quickly to provide rail transit for the
immigrants it hoped to persuade to settle in Ontario's north,
rather than in Canada's west. And it was in that process, at a
point 166 kilometres from North Bay, that railway workers
discovered silver in 1903 at what is now known as Cobalt. And
Introduction
1-9
what silver: readily accessible, its veins close to the surface
and so richly present in some places little money was needed for
development. By the end of 1950, a quarter-billion dollars of the
metal had been taken out of Cobalt — a staggering amount
considering that in those 47 years the price of a troy ounce of
silver on world markets never exceeded $1.01 U.S. — and, at
times, dipped below 25 cents.
In the year of the Cobalt silver strike, the Government of
Canada began planning a railway which would take a more northerly
route than the CPR and, in 1914, the National Transcontinental
Railway (later the Canadian National) was completed. Its opening
gave us a continuous rail line generally near the 50th parallel —
the beginnings of overland east-west transportation and the reason
for the establishment of many of the north's communities.
In the years following, the economic history of the north is
the history of the mining industry — and that, it seems in
retrospect, was colored with some legendary figures who enjoyed
extraordinary luck: Harry Preston who, in 1909, slipped on a
steep hillside and discovered a ledge seven metres wide which led
to a dome literally studded with gold — which became the Dome
mine; or Benny Hollinger who flipped a coin with another man to
decide how their claims should be divided. Hollinger won the toss
and selected six claims near a small lake — claims which were the
beginning of the famous Hollinger mines. Or Sandy Mclntyre and
his partner, who staked four claims east of Benny Hollinger 's, and
found in the earth the riches that made Mclntyre Porcupine — one
of the great gold mines of history.
But there was another growing industry as well: lumbering.
In the last third of the 19th century, the forest industry was
devoted to producing ties and tressle timber for the railways and
lumber to build housing for the fast-growing new country. By
1900, however, the focus shifted from white pine to spruce —
in part because the stands of pine had been decimated and in part
because of the growing needs of the pulp-and-paper industry.
Lumbering of any sort was encouraged by government, which saw
woodcutting as both profitable in itself and useful as a way of
opening up new farmlands in the northern clay belts: forests
would be cut down for farmland, farmers would feed foresters.
That this scheme did not work out — because of climate and soil
conditions — is simply another example of what happens when
people living in the south make assumptions about living in the
north.
Until World War II, lumbering was seasonal. In September,
roads to the forest stands were cut and camps set up for the
lumberjacks who worked only with saws and axes. With the coming
of winter, the logs, delicately balanced on horsedrawn sleighs,
were driven over ice roads to the nearest river where, with the
spring thaw, the logs were floated to sawmills downstream in the
spring where they were cut into railway ties, square timber,
boards and planks.
Introduction
1-10
The Canadian Pacific Railway, which played so important a
role in other areas, also affected lumbering operations. In the
early years, American lumber interests treated the forests in
northern Ontario as extensions of their own stands and cut
accordingly. With the construction of the CPR the federal
Government required enormous quantities of wood. The result was
twofold: a new awareness of trees previously overlooked —
tamarack, spruce, cedar — and a new method of transporting lumber
to market: the railway itself. In 1898, the provincial
Government passed legislation prohibiting the export of logs cut
on Crown lands and, though American-owned mills continued to
supply the U.S. market with Ontario's wood, this was as sawn
lumber, not as logs.
By the end of the 1800 's, its own stands of pulpwoods almost
gone, the U.S. began to turn north for the raw materials needed to
meet its increased demand for newsprint. As a result, by the
raid-1920s, northern Ontario had virtually switched its forest
industry from lumber to the larger, more complex needs in the
manufacture of pulp-and-paper . The pulp-and-paper sector shared
all of industry's economic shock in the Depression; but it was on
the road to recovery by the late 1930 's and, during the Second
World War, had become so vital yet short of labor that German
prisoners were used in the bush.
With our more efficient post-war technology, lumbering
operations today are of a size undreamed of four decades ago.
Gone is the time when it was possible to find readily-accessible
stands of trees which reached 60 metres into the air and were
nearly two metres in diameter at their base. Once "hewers of
wood", we have had to become haulers of wood — sometimes as much
as 300 kilometres from stand to mill — a measure of the extent to
which the forests have been depleted. This is a subject to which
the report will return in Chapter 5. It is a matter no less
urgent simply because the proposal which led to the formation of
this Commission — the decision to allocate cutting rights over an
enormous area of northern Ontario to a paper-manufacturing company
— is no longer on the table.
The early years of the north were memorable politically as
well as economically. In 1867, the British North American Act
(now the Constitution Act, 1982 ) confirmed that the watershed of
the Great Lakes would be part of the new Province of Ontario.
Three years later, the Dominion acquired Rupert's Land from the
Hudson's Bay Company, though it was unclear whether the area was
under federal or provincial jurisdiction. Even then, it was
obvious that there was a great deal at stake. Battles between
Toronto and Ottawa heated up during the two Macdonald Governments
and cooled down in the period between them, when Liberals
controlled both the federal and provincial Parliaments. (In the
ensuing turmoil, the citizens of Rat Portage — more pleasantly
known today as Kenora — voted in the 1883 provincial elections in
both Manitoba and Ontario.)
Introduction
1-11
But the quarrel, which hampered the possibility of
development, was far from insignificant and, in 1884, was
referred to the Privy Council of Great Britain, then Canada's
ultimate court of appeal. The Council ruled in favor of Ontario's
claim to all lands north of the Albany river, east to Quebec and
west to the Lake of the Woods — a decision which became the basis
of the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act of 1889. The final thrust,
to encompass most of what now lies north of 50, did not occur
until 1912 when the federal Government of Sir Robert Borden
transferred the Patricia area from the District of Keewatin to the
Province of Ontario.
In the early 19th century, European and native societies
lived harmoniously in northern Ontario but, even then, change was
already on the horizon. In 1850, the Province of Canada (composed
of what was known as Canada East, now Quebec, and Canada West, now
Ontario) assigned Provincial Commissioner Robinson to extinguish
Indian title in the Lake Superior and Lake Huron area, and his
treaties (Robinson-Superior and Robinson-Huron), peacefully
signed, set up the principle of open meetings, reserve lands and
annuities that was to set the substance of later agreements.
With the coming of Confederation, the federal Parliament was
given legislative power over Indians and the lands reserved to
them. Though these reserves had resulted from treaties signed by
both the federal and provincial Governments with bands throughout
northern Ontario, the Constitution Act gave responsibility to the
federal Government only. Within these islands of federal
jurisdiction, Indian bands have "beneficial ownership" of
both the surface and sub-surface of the land, including minerals.
Off the reserve lands, Indians continue, according to
evidence they submitted to the Commission, to harvest resources
for both subsistence and economic purposes. According to Treaties
#3, 5, and 9 — covering all of Ontario north of 50 — the right
to fish, hunt and trap on Crown lands by Indians living on
reserves was confirmed, even if otherwise in breach of provincial
law, providing it is for "sustenance purposes" (i.e., in
order to maintain them). Those rights have been entrenched in the
Constitution Act of 1982 and, thus, are part of the supreme law of
Canada.
THE ROYAL COMMISSION
If anyone doubts a single person can make a difference, even
in our complex 20th century society, the existence of this
Commission should be reassuring. Its initial existence is owed to
the ongoing concerns expressed by Andrew Rickard, then Grand Chief
of Grand Council Treaty #9, about resource development north of
50. In September, 1976, Chief Rickard approached the provincial
Government urging an inquiry to explore the subject, focusing on a
proposal by Reed Paper Ltd. to log 30,400 square kilometres of
bushland north of Red Lake — the largest uncut stand in all
Ontario — to supply a planned forest products complex in the Red
Lake/Ear Falls area. Reed was, at the same time, owner of the
Introduction
1-12
Dryden Paper Mill, the operations of which were implicated in
mercury pollution of the Wabigoon/English/Winnipeg River system
downstream of the mill site and which had resulted in the collapse
of the Indian economy dependent on that system.
The following month, Reed and the province's Ministry of
Natural Resources signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which
a feasibility study would be commissioned. At the same time, the
Ministry committed itself to a complete forest inventory. It soon
became clear, however, that such an agreement fell short of public
expectations. People were especially worried that Reed would get
its timber licence without any prior consideration of the social,
economic and environmental consequences of the project.
It was now November, 1976. Ontario Premier William Davis,
recognizing the widespread concern about what had come to be known
as the "Reed Tract", proposed a Commission of Inquiry be formed,
with Mr. Justice E.P. Hartt of the Supreme Court of Ontario at its
head, to examine the allocation and management of resources in the
Tract.
By the time the Commission was formally established in July
of 1977, it was clear that the issues of the north are
inextricably interwoven together. It simply made no sense to
expect that the Reed Tract could be considered in isolation from
all other aspects of northern resource development. As a result,
the mandate of the Commission was expanded to a full-scale
investigation of all aspects of resource development north of the
50 parallel.
As a result, the Cabinet Order-in-Council 1900/77,
establishing the Commission pursuant to the Public Inquiries Act ,
(See Appendix) directed it to:
1) inquire into any beneficial and adverse effects
on the environment . . . for the people of
Ontario of any . . . major enterprise north or
generally of the 50th parallel ...;
2) inquire into methods that should be used in the
future to assess y evaluate and make decisions
concerning the effect on the environment of such
enterprises;
3) investigate the feasibility and desirability of
alternative undertakings ... for the benefit of
the environment.
In keeping with the Government's desire to give the broadest
possible scope to the inquiry, the Order-in-Council gave wide
latitude to its definition of the elements that comprise the
environment and included not just the natural surround but also
the social, economic and cultural conditions which influence the
lives of people and of their communities.
Introduction
1-13
The Public Inquiries Act, under which the Commission was
established, specifies that the procedures to be followed and the
conduct of the inquiry are under the control and direction of the
Commission.
Mr. Justice Hartt's first order of business, then, was to
shape the Commission's focus and the initial step was a process of
public consultation — 14 hearings in the north and one in
Toronto — between November, 1977, and February, 1978.
The key questions for the public in the preliminary phase
were: what issues should this Commission address? how should it
conduct its explorations of those issues? how should it operate
to ensure the widest possible participation in its deliberations?
The results of the 15 hearings clarified, beyond a doubt, the need
for such an inquiry and the genuine interest in it. More than 450
submissions, many of which represented long hours of thought and
preparation, were received, especially from the people of the
north.
On April 4, 1978, Mr. Justice Hartt issued his Interim Report
and Recommendations (See Appendix). Its purpose, he said, was to
"highlight oevtain move fundamental issues and special oonoerns
whiah must be understood and acted upon by Government" . He
also indicated future directions for the Commission and included
specific recommendations such as a review and assessment of the
West Patricia land use planning process and input into the
environmental assessment process of a proposed lignite strip-
mining project at Onakawana. Premier William Davis, in a
statement to the Legislature on May 19, 1978, responded to the
Interim Report and Recommendations, supporting the concept that
northern residents be more directly involved in the decision-
making processes of Government.
Later that year, Mr. Justice Hartt left the chairmanship of
the Commission to take up the post of Commissioner of the Indian
Commission of Ontario, the establishment of which he had
recommended in his interim report.
Late in 1978, the Commission published The Issues Report , the
final document prepared under Mr. Justice Hartt's direction. It
is a compendium of the issues, opinions and viewpoints of the
participants in the preliminary hearings and its purpose,
Mr. Justice Hartt explained, was "to give the people of Ontario
the ohanae to hear, and to begin to understand, the problems of
the north, as seen by the people of the north".
On August 2, 1978, the Ontario Cabinet appointed me to
succeed Mr. Justice Hartt as Commissioner of the Royal Commission
on the Northern Environment.
1 have excluded the contamination of the Wabigoon/English/
Winnipeg water system from my considerations since it seemed
likely that it could better be resolved by the newly-established
Indian Commission of Ontario.
Introduction
1-14
I immediately turned my attention to the major areas outlined
in Justice Hartt's Interim report:
1) to examine the human and environmental
consequences of economic change and the use of
resources north of 50;
2) to investigate the process by which decisions on
these matters are made;
3) to assist the people of the north to decide the
kind of future they want for the land on which
they live, seeking especially to find ways of
improving the disadvantaged situation of native
peoples;
4) to recommend to the Government of Ontario how
those issues should be resolved.
To clarify the focus of the Commission, I laid out the two
major principles to which I was committed: that northerners
should be involved in decisions affecting them and that northern
development should only be permitted if it is carefully
controlled. Economic growth should and must take place but can do
so only if it benefits the people of the north and does not have
adverse social or environmental consequences.
In other words, as a northerner for all of my adult life, I
was convinced it was possible to permit use of the north's natural
resources without creating havoc in its fragile ecosystems.
Moreover, it was both economically and socially sound to ensure
that a first priority for such controlled development is that it
benefit the people of the north — that it ensures them a decent
living standard, modern educational and health system, appropriate
transportation and communications, and cultural protection. I
emphasize that these two principles cannot be viewed separately.
It would be a mockery, for example, to suggest that economic and
social development are possible without stringent environmental
controls or that environmental protection automatically means the
end of any kind of development.
In order to take the Commission to the people of the north, I
established my head office on January 2, 1979, in Thunder Bay,
retaining the administrative office in Toronto as well as the
Timmins regional office opened in September, 1977.
With the commencement of my research program and as a result
of extensive travelling and consultation in the north, I presented
my further objectives to:
1) identify, as far as possible, the economic
prospects for the north in the "convential"
sectors (e.g., mining, forest industries,
tourism) .
Introduction
1-15
2) identify ways of strengthening and diversifying
the economic base of northern communities, both
through the "conventionial" sectors and through
complementary and alternative activities.
3) examine the probable implications of human
activities for the natural environment of the
north and the adequacy of current governmental
programs to protect it.
4) assist the people of the north to develop
realistic social, economic and (natural)
environmental goals for the north as guides to
public policy.
5) recommend necessary changes in the legislation,
administrative structures and processes whereby
government decisions about economic and social
development and protection of the natural
environment in the north are made, considering
their appropriateness, effectiveness, coordina-
tion, clarity, and responsiveness.
The Commission's research involved both internal technical
studies and the work, of universities, outside academics and native
groups. Major internal studies undertaken during my inquiry have
resulted in two published reports which looked at the present
environmental assessment process, as it related, in one case, to
the proposed Onakawana lignite development project and, in the
other, to the access road to the Detour Lake mine site. Major
external studies included:
1) The Economic Future of the Forest Products Industry in
Northern Ontario , by Lakehead University.
2) The Future of Mineral Development in the Province of Ontario
North of 50° North , by Laurentian University.
3) Tourism Development in Ontario North of 50° , by W.M. Baker.
4) Producing and Providing: The Story of Kiashke River Native
Development Inc. , by John H. Blair.
The Commission's research resulted in a series of publications
that are valuable additions to the field of northern study. (See
Appendix) To be sure, a great deal more research remains to be
done but the Commission has established a carefully reasoned and
scholarly base for future works.
As part of the Commission's work in developing a
comprehensive picture of the north's economy, we signed a
cooperative research agreement with the Kayahna Area Tribal
Council. The Council undertook to examine changes in the social,
cultural and economic life of the people who live in the remote
native communities of the Kayahna tribal area of northwestern
Ontario. In turn, the Commission undertook a thorough review of
the economic base of selected communities in the general area of
Sioux Lookout.
Intpoduation
1-16
A similar joint effort between the Fort Hope Band and the
Commission studied the social, economic and environmental effects
of the proposed Ogoki road in the Fort Hope area. This particular
project required and received the total dedicated participation of
the entire Fort Hope Community and we believe it stands as a
potential model for northern community-based decision-making.
The Kayahna Area Tribal Council also entered into a major
contract with the Commission under our public funding program to
undertake a land use and occupancy study for the Kayhana area.
Unhappily, not all studies were similarly fruitful.
Contracts were undertaken with other Tribal Councils of the Treaty
#9 region and with the Grand Council Treaty #9 itself but were
terminated before completion because of circumstances beyond the
control of the Commission.
My public funding program was a primary focus for the
Commission's activities to help groups and individuals undertake
research, and prepare and present submissions or reports on
matters directly relevant to the Commission's mandate and
objectives. (See Appendix)
As the inquiry progressed, the Commission was able to analyse
the public's sense of the relative priority of issues. This
analysis enabled me to focus on two major directions for the
inquiry:
1) to establish mechanisms which could ensure that northerners
would have a strong say in determining how development of the
north should proceed; and
2) to discover a method to help control northern development and
to work in concert with and not at the expense of the
environment.
I presented these in a document entitled Future Directions ,
confident that by inviting participation by all northerners, by
involving the native people in the research, and by presenting
realistic goals and objectives, a greater understanding of our
environment and its peoples would ensue.
The entire public participation program was designed as a
two-way street: the Commission informing interested persons and
groups about its findings and the public informing the Commission
of its opinions and positions on the issues under study. We were
involved in a number of useful avenues of public communication: a
newsletter, widespread dissemination of our reports and
consultants' papers. We held public meetings and information
sessions, encouraged direct contact between general public and the
Commission; and invited informal submissions — all with the twin
goals of keeping the public apprised of our work and of keeping
ourselves aware of public attitudes and expections.
Introduction
1-17
This was not by any means a hollow public relations gesture.
As the Commission progressed, we gained an increasingly sensitive
awareness of the public's ranking of the issues that had been
raised in the early set of hearings and in my visits to northern
communities. Of the principles already established, there were
three of special importance to our various publics and all, I
believe, are strongly reflected in this report: first, any
process of decision-making must guarantee northerners a strong
voice in determining future development; second, new development
must not eliminate any activities engaged in by others without
resolving conflicts; third, a method of controlling development
must be put in place to ensure development does not occur at the
expense of the environment.
I reiterate these points, both because of their importance
and because they provide the foundation on which the Commission
came to stand. Our research and publications initiatives are
intended to create a common body of knowledge on which future
decisions can be soundly based; our attempts at reaching out to
all people who might be interested in or affected by our
deliberations was, aside from its intrinsic value, meant to show
what is possible when people are encouraged to speak on matters
vital to them now and in the future.
This last phase, in which the Commission examined the
allocation, use and management of resources was, of course, based
on the previously mentioned principles of local decision making
and minimal environmental damage. Its specific focus — public
involvement programs, and internal/external research activities —
culminated in 36 days of public hearings at 19 locations,
commencing November 22, 1982, with 211 written submissions
received and 254 presentations made. (See Appendix)
I felt that the purpose of hearings was to let me hear the
views, experiences and opinions of residents of the north, other
interested persons and the major enterprises and government
agencies active there. Hearing procedures should be, I
concluded, as simple as possible.
While there were obviously, given the breadth of my terms of
reference, many issues on which differing views existed, there
were jio specific major undertakings or resource developments then
planned for the north. There was no single project - like a
pipeline or paper mill - the merits of which could be addressed in
my hearings, with relevant evidence, pro and con, tested by cross-
examination.
I called as a result for informal hearings without provision
for cross-examination, believing that formal, adversarial hearings
were neither needed nor appropriate in the circumstances.
The procedures that 1 circulated long before ray hearings
began clearly spelled out their informal nature. I received no
advance comment or criticism of them.
I ntvoduetion
1-li
At one of my first hearings, however, Grand Council Treaty
#9 asked me to recognize it as a party with a direct and
substantial interest in the inquiry. Such parties are guaranteed
rights of cross-examination by the Public Inquiries Act .
I was concerned that cross-examination would add formality
and an adversarial atmosphere to ray hearings which would
discourage participation by northerners and other interested
parties. Given the scope of my terms of reference, it was
difficult to imagine anyone living in the north who was not
substantially and directly affected by at least one of the many
subjects the Commission had been called upon to inquire into.
In accordance with the Public Inquiries Act , this honest
difference was submitted to the Divisional Court of the Supreme
Court of Ontario for determination. That court ruled that Grand
Council Treaty #9 and the Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce
were parties with a direct and substantial interest in the inquiry
and must therefore be given the opportunity to cross-examine
persons testifying before me.
As a result, I revised my hearing procedures and held formal
hearings in Thunder Bay and Toronto. Grand Council Treaty #9 did
not attend.
It is a matter of personal and lasting regret that the Grand
Council Treaty #9 chose not to participate in the formal
hearings it had initially urged and, thus, it deprived the
Commission of a potentially rich source of ideas and suggestions.
This outcome was particularly ironic in view of the Council's role
in the formation of this Commission. Nonetheless, I believe the
many submissions of natives, individually and as groups, comprise
an enormously valuable contribution and makes the Commission's
work worthy of consideration.
The Minister of Natural Resources, the Ministry of the
Environment and the Great Lakes Paper Co. Ltd. presented
themselves before the Commission for cross-examination by the
following groups, which sought and were granted formal standing:
the Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce; the Sioux Lookout
Trappers Council; the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters
Association; the Summer Beaver Settlement; the Deer Lake Band and
the Kayahna Tribal Area Council. These hearings became a valuable
element in the Commission's work, a fact reflected in this
report.
Finally, as the person responsible for every one of the
recommendations that follow, I believe it is appropriate to give
readers of this report as fair and objective an assessment as
possible of the attitudes and understanding I brought with me when
I accepted the post of Commissioner. I would not betray the
lessons I've learned in 50 years in the north by pretending that I
have a totally "unbiased" view of my part of the world — because
no intelligent person can remain untouched by experience and
Introduction
1-19
because claims to being "unbiased" are naive or untruthful, or
both.
But there is a considerable difference between having a
viewpoint and having a closed mind. Moreover, in clarifying my
point of view here, at the beginning of this report, I hope to
make clear that what follows is not a random selection of
purported cure-it-alls for the ills to which the north is prone.
After all, if we northerners live with anything, it is with
reality and we know too well that if it sounds too good to be
true, it usually is. At the same time, I reject the pessimists
who believe nothing is worth beginning because it is too
complicated or takes too long to accomplish.
Without apology, I see the north as different from the rest
of this province. Northerners live in a setting in which they
must do the adapting in order to survive. There is a resulting
acceptance — a calm, if you will — from learning to live in
harmony with elements that cannot be controlled to any appreciable
degree.
I see the north as a place in which, centuries ago, people of
a highly advanced culture lived simply and harmoniously with the
elements. When immigrants arrived — my family from Sweden, many
from all parts of Europe — we brought little of benefit to the
native people already living here as we shall see later on in this
report.
At present, there are problems — and unique opportunities —
because of the interplay between cultures in the north. Native
families have intrinsic strengths which need to be better
understood. In a world where parents no longer provide role
models for their offspring, for example, the native passes on the
hunting and fishing skills honed by his ancestors over several
thousand years. This is intrinsic to a culture which views nature
as belonging to a Great Spirit and requires the Indian family to
protect it for future generations.
Clearly, we can find avenues in which all cultures are
equally respected and all can preserve what is essential to their
understanding of the world around them. While we do not share all
our values and often cannot communicate with each other because of
language barriers, it is also true that many aspects of northern
life can be shared* our northern attitudes to climate; our
isolation; our anxiety about plans made for, rather than with, us;
our desire to make a good life for ourselves and an even better
one for our children.
Now, we turn our attention to the future — the only "place",
after all, over which we still have absolute control. It is my
firm belief that when one of us is better off, we are all better
off. I hope that careful consideration of the report and its
recommendations will result in a future characterized by new
attitudes, new ways of treating people and improved planning in
the north. These will leave all of us — north and south —
Intpoduction
1-20
hPtter for it. If it should have that effect, then it can be said
of all those who worked for and with the Royal Cotnmxssxon on the
Northern Environment that we were worthy of the task entrusted to
us.
Introduction
Hearings
Red Lake
Red Lake District Chamber
of Commerce
D. Meadows, Pat Sayeau
Darcy Halligan
Red Lake Public School
Students
Chief Douglas Meekis
Deer Lake Band
Fort Hope
Hearings -
Instant
Translation
Fort Hope
Hearings -
Chief Harvey Yesno
explaining the
Drum
Fort Hope
Hearings -
Residents
discussing their
experiences and
lifeways
CHAPTER 2
THE NEED FOR INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
The north serves and is dominated by Ontario's more populated
industrial south. This reality underlies the environmental
degradation and social malaise that has characterized the
exploitation of northern natural resources. Because the bulk of
development benefits have flowed south, the north and the people
living there have been left to cope with the long terra
consequences of resource development. That burden has often been
greater than any benefits derived from short-term employment or
business opportunity. The north has not shared equitably in the
profits that have flowed from the exploitation of its natural
resources.
The greatest impacts of resource development are clearly
experienced by those who live near the resource. Resource
extraction, whether it is the cutting of trees or the mining of
minerals, can drastically change the physical landscape. It can
also cause profound economic and social change which can be
devastating for adjacent communities. Resource development can
also bring jobs and business opportunities that greatly increase
the standard of living for northerners.
Similar statements were repeatedly made in many of the
submissions I received. In my hearings, I heard time and time
again that development in the north has rarely been designed to
meet the long-terra needs of northern communities. I heard, too,
that developers often prefer to import labor and goods, rather
than make use of what is or could be available locally.
What thought has been given to northern needs when resources
are developed? Rarely have comprehensive remedial and mitigative
measures been designed and implemented before the development
commences. Nor in the past, has there been any real effort to
determine how best development could be structured so that
benefits for local communities, businesses and residents would
emerge as a consequence of resource exploitation.
I have concluded that we must attempt to ensure a more
equitable sharing among all Ontarians of the benefits derived from
resource use. We must approach development collectively and
creatively, without the polarization of positions that seems to
have become a common feature of debate over resource proposals.
To do this, we must ensure that those who may be directly affected
by development have a real say in how it should occur and a real
return if it does occur. When people believe they will have a
share or be partners in development, and that interest will not
be manipulated by others or taken away arbitrarily, I believe they
will be favorably inclined to support it.
That is not the case now. Many northerners, and particularly
native people, look on development proposals with suspicion, fear
and cynicism. They have seen the benefits of earlier developments
bypass them completely. They have suffered from a legacy of
Institutional Change
2-2
social and environmental damage. They have lost, as a result, a
large measure of self-respect and dignity as human beings. This
can, I think, be changed, but only through the effective involve-
ment of northerners in designing resource projects and
experiencing projects from which they receive real benefits not
only through the project's life.
In other words, beneath the many conflicts over resource
development lies a wide-spread belief amongst northerners that
t' -^y have precious little influence over the course of
development. That belief is well-founded. What is more, there
are no government agencies with power to shape northern develop-
ment which are immune from the political and economic centres of
power of Bay Street and Queen's Park. It is important we recog-
nize these realities. We must design approaches and mechanisms
which will ensure that the power of the majority in the province
does not deny reasonable standards of opportunity and living for
the minority of Ontarians who live in the north. It is wrong that
the north and its residents are neglected when the exploitation of
northern resources feeds the mouths and machines of populations
elsewhere. It is morally and logically wrong since northerners
are the custodians for all Ontario of a vast storehouse of water,
clean air, wood and minerals on which the future of the province
depends.
The welfare of future generations lies in our ability to
ensure the northern environment is wisely used. Who could better
aid in achieving this then northerners?
My recommendations in this report, given the broad sweep of
my terms of reference, touch many aspects of resource development
and the northern environment. But the key to implementation of
the changes I find to be necessary are counter-balancing
institutional and regulatory mechanisms.
I have considered a wide range of regulatory approaches.
Already we have in place environmental legislation — and in
particular, the Environmental Assessment Act — which can, in
part, help design development so that adverse consequences are
reduced. But no law, regulation or institution currently in
place has the capacity to shape development so that the benefits
for affected communities and people - for example, in terms of
jobs and business opportunities - become part of the development
scheme.
Indeed, I doubt whether one could achieve such objectives
in a speedy and creative way through the imposition of rules,
obligations and penalties by legislation. Each development
project — every area of land involved — is different; so, too,
are nearby residents and their communities and the existing
infrastructure of roads and railway lines. Designing how best a
project can benefit the north must, of necesssity, be project-
specific.
Ontario's situation is not, however, unique. The Commission
reviewed approaches elsewhere which show an increasing reliance
Institutional Chanje
2-3
on the use of special made-to-measure contracts dealing with a
resource use and its economic, social and environmental impacts.
I have concluded that resource-use contracts are the best way to
deal with resource developments in the north and related potential
conflicts. But, a related mechanism is needed to design and
negotiate resource-use agreements.
I have decided that a new institutional mechanism is needed
for this purpose. In doing so, I reviewed whether or not the role
involved could be played by existing ministries and agencies of
the Government, or through the establishment of a special ministry
for the north, which might be called the Ministry of Northern
Affairs and Development. I looked, for example, at the experience
of the Ministry of Northern Affairs, which I believe has
significant accomplishments to its record. It has, I believe,
successfully met its objectives in ensuring that northerners and
northern communities get a fairer share from existing Government
programs. (Further specific recommendations concerning the
Ministry are found in Chapter 9.) But the Ministry, in terms of
influence, is but one Minister in a Cabinet which owes its
political life to the votes of all Ontarians — most of whom
reside in the south of the province. A single ministry can
provide a northern perspective but it is all too easily overridden
by practical political realities. There is, as well, the tendency
for all Government ministries to take on expanded functions and
thus bear responsibility for a wide and distracting range of
Government programs, some of which will doubtlessly operate
outside of the north of the province.
A major influence on my decision is the reality that no one
ministry has been able to achieve a relationship of trust with the
Indians who reside in the north of the province. They are the
majority there. Their trust and involvement in resource
development is essential to their survival and to ensuring they
too get a fair return from resource exploitation in their
homelands.
I have also considered a number of submissions made to me
which called for changes in the way in which the north is
represented in Ontario's Legislature. Increased legislative
representation might increase the northern population's capacity
to strike a fairer deal. Such changes might contemplate
differences in the ratios of population to elected representatives
between the north and the south, or possibly, the consideration of
restricting certain seats to Indians. I make no recommendations
in this regard since the manner in which we elect our political
representatives and our existing system of proportionate
representation are beyond my terras of reference.
My conclusion is that a special independent agency of
government should be established, free of the need for political
compromise and aware of the particular needs of the north. Its
primary role should be to design and negotiate resource-use
agreements with developers and to involve affected northerners in
that process. I have called this agency the Northern Development
Authority.
Institutional Change
2-4
2.1 Recommendation:
That a Northern Development Authority be established by
special legislation as an independent agency, reporting to
the Legislature, through the Minister of Northern Affairs.
2.2 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered to
negotiate resource-use agreements with developers proposing
to develop northern resources.
2.3 Recommendation:
That resource-use agreements be preconditions to proposed
resource developments considered to be significant by the
Northern Development Authority.
In designing resource-use agreements with developers, I do
not believe that the Northern Development Authority should be
restricted in any way in the content and nature of the terras and
conditions in resource-use agreements it negotiates. Its enabling
legislation could, however, indicate the matters which might be
included in a resource-use agreement.
These matters could relate to such subjects as: the
employment of local residents; business opportunities for local
enterprises; training and other programs of assistance enabling
local residents to take advantage of employment and business
opportunities; measures to mitigate potential environmental
consequences; provision of multi-purpose facilities (e.g., roads,
housing, water supply and sewage systems); and remedial measures
for dealing with termination of the contemplated resource use.
Implementation of these recommendations would establish the
Northern Development Authority, particularly in the eyes of
resource developers, as judge and jury on whether or not a
proposed development project goes ahead. I recognize, therefore,
that there should be ministerial control over the Authority's
perceived power to impose resource-use agreements.
2.4 Recommendation:
That if the Northern Development Authority and a developer
cannot agree on the terms and conditions of a resource use
agreement, then the parties may request the Minister of
Northern Affairs to resolve such conflicts in whatever manner
the Minister may deem appropriate.
I believe that the Minister of Northern Affairs in such
circumstances should have the capacity to impose terras in order to
overcome differences which may have arisen between the developer
and the Northern Development Authority. Alternatively, the
Minister may wish to have such differences independently
arbitrated. He should have that option.
Institutional Change
2-5
Who should be appointed to serve on the Northern Development
Authority? How should these people be appointed? As I have
already indicated, the Authority should bring a northern
perspective to its tasks. Moreover, it should (if this is ever
possible) be freed of domination by partisan politics. These
concerns have shaped the following recommendation.
2.5 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be administered by
three directors, to be named by the Cabinet with the consent
of the Legislature, for seven-year terms; that one of the
directors be selected from a list of candidates proposed by
muncipalities and towns north of 50; that one director be
selected from a list of candidates proposed by Indian
communities in the north; and that one director, who must be
a resident of Ontario near or north of 50, be selected by
Cabinet; that one director be appointed as initial managing
director of the Authority for a two-year term; and that
subsequently, the three directors be empowered to decide
amongst themselves who should subsequently serve as managing
director for a similar term.
Given its principal function of negotiating resource-use
agreements, the Authority will, of necessity, require certain
other powers.
2.6 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered to
monitor compliance with resource-use agreements and have the
legal capacity to enforce such agreements.
It would be useful, in my view, for the Northern Development
Authority to play other related roles. Once, for example, a
resource-use agreement has been negotiated, it would be beneficial
for the rapid implementation of the proposed development for the
Authority to serve as the single stop or window through which the
developer could obtain all necessary regulatory approvals and
licences required for the project. I heard evidence of the delays
and consequent unneccessary expense experienced by developers
because of the lack of coordination between the many government
agencies whose review and consent is required for various aspects
of a northern resource development. If the Northern Development
Authority were given the capacity to serve as the single
regulatory stop, I would expect that it would soon be able to make
recommendations to the Legislature on how best the various
regulatory processes might be harmonized.
It is possible, indeed probable, that resource use agreements
might contain conditions calling for the employment of northerners
and the involvement of local enterprises. As a result, it is
likely that the Northern Development Authority, if created, would
become aware of the need for particular occupational and business
training programs, no doubt in consultation with agencies of
government already so involved.
Institutional Change
2-6
It could also find itself serving as a central information
source for the many provincial and federal government economic
development and social programs, grants and other support
mechanisms which may well be available for certain resource
development projects. I have found that there is a need for such
a clearing house and believe that the Authority should have the
capacity to advise the Minister of Northern Affairs on how best a
clearing house could function. I deal with this matter further in
Chapter 9 of this report.
In addition, the Authority's role in determining the
benefits from proposed developments which can be derived for
northern residents and communities, will inevitably bring it into
contact with whatever planning exercises may then be under way.
As I shall be indicating later in this report, I believe there is
a role for plannning at all levels, and particularly at the
community level. Land use planning, if carried out in full
recognition of existing uses of resources, particularly those made
by the Indian people of the north of Ontario, is important and
probably crucial for orderly development. The Northern
Development Authority's experience will, I believe, be useful in
determining planning needs at the community and regional levels.
Accordingly, the Authority should have the capacity to make
recommendations to Government on planning matters.
If environmental assessments are, as I recommend in
Chapter 3, required for all significant proposed resource
development undertakings, such assessments may occur in tandem
with the negotiation of a resource use agreement. If an agreement
is negotiated to conclusion before the the environmental
assessment process is complete, it could well be useful for the
Northern Development Authority to act as a co-proponent for
purposes of environmental assessment. I believe that the
involvement of the Authority as a co-proponent could expedite
environmental assessment and, as well, assist the Northern
Development Authority in the design of terras and conditions for
resource-use agreements.
2.7 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered and
funded to permit it to carry out activities and implement
programs which are of direct and immediate value to its prin-
cipal function of determining the appropriate content of
resource use agreements, as well as negotiating, imple-
menting, monitoring and enforcing such agreements; that
among such activities be the coordination of all related
regulatory approvals, the design and implementation of
occupational and business training programs, the operation of
an information centre on government economic development
programs, and the acting as co-proponent of undertakings
north of 30 for purposes of assessment under the
Environmental Assessment Act .
The resource use agreements I have recommended are not
dissimilar to the existing forest management agreements between
Institutional Change
2-7
forest product companies and the Ministry of Natural Resources. I
discuss these in detail in Chapter 5. Forest management
agreements deal with how the forest resource is used and
regenerated. I believe these agreements are a positive
contribution to the betterment of the northern environment. Such
agreements are also seen by the Ministry of Natural Resources as
mechanisms through which conflicts between forest products
companies and other resource users are resolved.
Forest management agreements designate the areas in which
resource exploitation is either prohibited entirely or subject to
strict control. In other words, areas are created in which the
priority is the maintenance of the natural environment, and not
the removal of either renewable or non-renewable resources. This
approach has prompted me to make a number of recommendations in
this report which call upon the Government to designate, for
example, forest protection areas and tourism management areas, in
which the dominant use precludes intensive exploitation involving
the cutting of wood or other uses harmful to the natural
environment.
I have also learned that contracts are being used elsewhere
for pollution regulation and compliance and to determine the
conditions of access to resources which are located on lands
reserved for or allocated to aboriginal populations.
For example, in the far north of Canada, under the agreement
known as the COPE Agreement negotiated with the Inuvialuit people,
"participation agreements" must be negotiated by developers
desiring access to resources on Inuvialuit land. It is
contemplated that participation agreements will determine the
level of compensation payments for access by the developer, as
well as for any resultant damage to the lands or other resources.
Other matters contemplated to be covered by participation
agreements are wildlife impacts and mitigation, targets for
employment, service and supply contracts, training, equity and
other types of participatory benefits.
An agreement recently negotiated between the Lax Kw'alaams
Band of Fort Simpson, British Columbia, and Dome Petroleum
Limited provides a model for resource use agreements. This
agreement attempts to deal with the concerns of the Band for
safety, social welfare, economic opportunities such as jobs and
business contracts, environmental impacts, and fish and wildlife
supply. The agreement arose because of Dome's plans to build a
liquified natural gas facility near the Band's community. The
facility requires certain rights of way through the Band's reserve
for pipe and transmission lines.
In Queensland, Australia, "infrastructure agreements" are
required at regional and local levels when large resource
developments will have substantial impacts and infrastructure
needs. In Massachusetts, legislation requires that developers
bargain with local residents on mitigation and compensation
measures when a proposed project may have substantial
environmental consequences.
Institutional Change
2-8
Experience elsewhere suggests that a contract-model approach
would be suitable in Ontario. The negotiation of what I call
resource-use agreements would be the best way to deal with not
only any adverse consequences of development, but also to direct
benefits from resource exploitation to local residents,
businesses and communities.
How should such agreements be negotiated? Elsewhere, as we
have seen, resource use agreements have been legislatively
required, or negotiated by government agencies, or have arisen as
part of the costs voluntarily paid by developers to achieve access
to resources. The need to obtain a resource-use agreement as a
pre-requisite to development would give affected communities
considerable bargaining power to counter-balance the usually
greater economic power of developers. But I have some concern
that many of the communities in northern Ontario would have
difficulty negotiating acceptable and workable resource-use
agreements. There is a considerable level of sophistication,
education and experience needed to arrive at workable resource-use
agreements. Presumably, the affected communities could retain
advisors and negotiators but this would be an ad hoc approach
which would vary greatly in outcome. My preference as I have
indicated is for an institutional mechanism to negotiate
resource-use agreements with developers on behalf of the north,
its people, communities and the northern environment; it is for
the Northern Development Authority.
I will be returning to the Northern Development Authority and
the resource-use agreement in a number of other recommendations
that I make in this report. They are key elements to the overall
approach which I believe this province must take if it is to
preserve the northern environment.
Institutional Change
CHAPTER 3
PROTECTING THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
"We have not inherited the eavth from our
fathers, we are borrowing it from our the
children." (Chief Thomas Fiddler and James
Stevens) .
I think it is fair to say there was no widespread concern
about environmental issues until after the 1962 publication of
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring , a passionate warning about the
dangers posed to water, land, fish, birdlife and, ultimately, the
safety of humans, as the result of increased use of chemical
pesticides and fertilizers.
Carson compelled people to consider a new danger: the
presence of pollutants as they passed through the food chain,
decimating species of birds and fish, and threatening the health
of humans. As remarkable as it may seem to young generations of
Canadians to whom "pollution", "ecology", and "the environment"
are everyday words describing a fact of 20th century living, they
and the concerns they represent were virtually unknown 25 years
ago.
By 1955, increasing concern about environmental matters led
to several legislative initiatives: the Ontario Water Resources
Commission Act, 1957 , the Air Pollution Control Act of 1958, the
Environmental Protection Act , 1971, and, in the same year, the
formation of the first Department (now the Ministry) of the
Environment. The province, which had taken over responsibility
for air pollution control from municipalities, also gave the new
department the task of maintaining a high quality of water and
land "that will protect human health and the ecosystem" .
By the mid-70s, a new general consensus was emerging, based
on a concern for the environmental consequences, not just of
chemicals but of all aspects of modern life. This was the social
context within which Ontario's Environmental Assessment Act was
presented and passed in the spring of 1976.
I think it is fair to say the Act has made little impact on
the general public, beyond their vague sense that environmental
assessment exists. This may be because of its limited use. Yet
this is unfortunate because the process of the Act involves public
participation and is valuable in increasing awareness of and
formulating public policies regarding environmental issues.
The Environmental Assessment Act was passed in an attempt to
balance various competing — and sometimes conflicting —
interests and to consider the many complex issues involved; it is
worth describing here in some detail.
The general scheme of the EAA is relatively straightforward:
first, a decision has to be made on whether the Act applies to a
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-2
proposed project. Unless the undertaking is exempted under
Section 30 (Exemption Order) or Section 41 (Exemption Regulation),
all projects in Ontario fall under its scrutiny. However, only
those private projects specifically designated come under the Act.
In other words: public projects are subject to the Act unless
exempt, private projects are exempt unless designated.
Criteria for exemptions under the Act are that they be "in
the public interest ^ having regard to the purpose of the Aot, and
weigh that against injury or damage that might be caused to a
person or a property by applying the Act."
THE PROPONENT
There is a considerable body of evidence to conclude that
this separation between private and public projects is artificial
and defeats the intentions of the Act. First, however, let us
deal with the question of how a company, government ministry,
group or individual is designated as "proponent"; that is, as the
entity responsible for the project. This determination,
apparently straightforward, has far-reaching practical
consequences.
For example, the Act provides that some ministries and entire
categories of projects may be exempted from its provisions; as a
result, a public undertaking involving several ministries can be
delayed considerably by internal debate amongst them on which
should be the proponent. Because of the blanket exemption of many
ministries (e.g., the Ministries of Revenue, Labour, Education)
from the Act's provisions, choosing one of those as proponent
effectively assures that there will be no environmental assessment
of the proposal.
The existing distinction under the Environmental Assessment
Act between public and private undertakings has resulted in an
even more serious problem with respect to Crown lands, especially
those in the north. An undertaking on Crown-owned land, funded
for direct and indirect costs by the Government, could depend
heavily on several ministries for various types of approval,
funding and other participation, and still be held to be a private
project not subject to the Environmental Assessment Act . This was
the subject of quite understandable criticism at hearings of the
Commission. At the April, 1983, hearing in Thunder Bay, M.B.
Jackson from the Ministry of the Environment, said there was
"no regular process" for identifying a proponent.
Furthermore, I became aware that delays are caused by
problems in identifying which group, company or ministry is held
to be the proponent. The Commission undertook a case study of the
application of the Act involving a proposed road accessing a major
gold mine at Detour Lake, and found that there had been delays for
exactly that reason. As our case study explained, "A'o one
wanted to take on the responsibility"; finally, late in the
history of the project, the Ministry of Transportation and
Communications was determined to be the proponent.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-3
Clearly, any decision on naming a proponent must receive
early attention in order to minimize delay and create an efficient
context in which environmental assessment can take place.
The Town of Iroquois Falls in its appearance at a Commission
hearing in December, 1982, made some useful suggestions. The town
proposed that the Act be revised to give the Ministry of the
Environment the power to designate the proponent. Alternately,
the Minister of the Environment should introduce a procedure which
would require possible proponents to agree on who would be the
proponent for a given project within a specified time period.
Failing agreement, the Minister would decide.
I find both these approaches to be appropriate reforms to
the environmental assessment process.
3.1 Recommendation:
That for purposes of environmental assessment under the
Environmental Assessment Act of undertakings on Crown land,
the Government of Ontario, through the ■inistry or ministries
most involved in the management or regulation of the resource
or activity concerned, be the proponent or co-proponent of
such undertakings; and that the Northern Development
Authority be a co-proponent for all undertakings north of 50
for which a resource use agreement has been negotiated.
3.2 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario develop and introduce
procedures for identifying proponents at the earliest
possible stage of the environmental assessment process under
the Environmental Assessment Act .
3.3 Recomendation:
That the Minister of the Environment be empowered to
designate proponents for undertakings subject to the
Environmental Assessment Act .
PRE-SUBMISSION CONSULTATION
Once it has been decided that the assessment provisions of
the Act apply, the proponent must have an environmental assessment
prepared which meets guidelines of the Ministry of the
Environment. Upon submission of such an assessment, the Ministry
is obliged to coordinate a review of the assessment.
An informal consultation to help ensure that the assessment
will be acceptable usually takes place before the proponent
submits its environmental assessment to the Ministry. Such
pre-submission consultations are viewed very positively by the
Ministry. Proponents, interested government agencies and other
parties affected by the proposed undertaking are strongly advised
to participate, though there is no legal obligation to do so.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-4
The Ministry should be commended for its efforts to involve
the public through its Guidelines for Pre-submission Consultation ,
September, 1981. In its submission in Thunder Bay on April, 1983,
the Ministry assured the Commission that cooperation from
proponents has been "very good" and "very cooperative". However,
despite the benefits of consultation presented in the guidelines,
a proponent may also perceive early consultation as strengthening
any opposition to its undertaking.
An obvious weakness in the present process, however, is that
it relies upon the voluntary cooperation of the proponent to
initiate the pre-submission consultation.
In his presentation of July, 1982, the-then Minister of the
Environment, the Hon. Keith Norton, told me he supported the idea
of instituting a formal pre-submission process to "effectively
minimize the delay and oonfliet which might ohavacterize
environmental assessment procedures otherwise ^ and remove much of
the uncertainty that concerns most proponents" .
A preliminary consultation process initiated and, to a great
degree, controlled by the proponent, that is discretionary
and that has no legal status, does not — in ray opinion —
appropriately answer concerns about the initial presentation of a
project.
3.4 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Act be amended to require
pre-submission consultation by the proponent, government
and Interested parties; that procedures for pre-submission
consultation continue to be established through the publi-
cation of guidelines by the Ministry of Environment.
3.5 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Act and Section 5(3) there-
of be amended to require that the environmental assessment
document also contain a description of pre-submission
consultation which Indicates who was Involved and what
matters were discussed.
The Northern Development Authority, as it is conceived, would
be part of the pre-submission process. Given its proposed
functions, the Authority would act, not only as an early warning
system for determining the effects proposed undertakings might
have on a highly sensitive environment, but also as a method of
bringing the interested parties together. They would meet with
the Authority to define the possible effects, including
socio-economic ones, of the undertaking within a structure
designed to resolve differences and to lead to amelioration of
those effects.
There are further questions regarding the current approach
taken to environmental assessment, especially in the matter of the
proponents' assessments which all too often fail to incorporate
necessary ecological values. According to many criticisms made in
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-5
testimony to the Commission, there is a need to use more sensitive
and accurate indicators of potential bio-physical impact on the
environment.
ECOLOGICAL FACTORS
The Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Society of Environmental
Biologists presented to the Commission in its submission of
January, 1983, an "ecosystem" approach containing six elements:
1) A peer review committee, established at the outset of each
environmental assessment, to advise on the technical aspects
of data collection and analysis.
2) Identification of important attributes of the environmental
assessment process at an early stage.
3) Definition of the physical boundaries and time frame of the
proposal.
4) A method of studying the basic, identified ecological
relationships.
5) A prediction of the various kinds of environmental impact
likely to result from a project.
6) A major commitment to monitoring a project both before and
after it has been developed.
The Conservation Council of Ontario, in its presentation of
November, 1982, discussed "ecodevelopment" , an approach more or
less based on the same six principles. The Council summarized
these recommendations as the "application of the broader
considerations ... pertaining to: the articulation of the purpose
of development; the qualities to be sought and maintained in our
developmental environments and the characteristics to be
minimized; the definition of the study area; citizen
participation; and the provision and quality of information" .
Detailed scientific examination of these concepts, supported
by case studies evaluating their effectiveness and their effect on
the present process, are necessary for in-depth evaluation of
these precepts. Nonetheless, the potential for improving input
into the current process by using a unified and policy-oriented
approach seems obvious.
3.6 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario develop specific and
quantifiable ecological factors for use In the assessment
process under the the Environmental Assessment Act.
Having examined some current problems and possible solutions,
let's now return to the rest of the process as it exists under the
Environment Assessment Act . First, it's important to keep in mind
that it involves two decisions: whether to accept or to amend and
then accept (but not reject) the environmental assessment document
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-6
and second, to approve, approve subject to terras and conditions or
not approve the proposal itself.
The Ministry circulates the environmental assessment document
to other ministries which might be concerned: for example, to the
Ministry of Transportation and Communications if the project
involves roads, to Natural Resources if a mine is being
considered, to Citizenship and Culture if the area may contain
archeological sites, and so on.
One of the greatest areas of delay apparent in the present
review system is the co-ordination of the review process. The
period after the reviews are received from various ministries can
be lengthy. (A sensitive process of behind-the-scenes political
compromise can take up to a year before the review is released.)
This process has been impolitely described as "laundering" the
review; others see it as a necessary negotiation period to satisfy
the government agencies involved in the process. In any event, it
is clear that there is not only delay but a tendency to narrow the
issues before public review takes place.
Both the assessment and the "laundered" ministerial review
are open to public inspection. Section 31(1) of the Act requires
the Minister to maintain a public record which includes: the
environmental assessment document prepared by the proponent; the
Government review of the assessment; submissions by other
interested parties; decisions; and various orders and notices
under the Act. Public notice is given that, within 30 days,
anyone may inspect the documents and make written submissions
about them to the Minister. Those who make written submissions
may also require — subject to ministerial approval — a hearing
by the Environmental Assessment Board, which is established by the
Act.
Once an assessment has been accepted, or amended and
accepted, there is published notification of the acceptance which
allows 15 days for interested parties to request a hearing about
the undertaking before the Environmental Assessment Board. Though
the Minister may refuse to hold such a hearing, generally
permission is granted and, as a result, most major decisions are
made by the Environmental Assessment Board after a hearing.
If a hearing is not requested or if the Minister chooses not
to hold one, he or she must decide — subject to Cabinet
approval — whether to approve the proposed project, approve it
subject to conditions, or not approve it. If a hearing is held,
both decisions (whether or not to accept the assessment and
whether or not to approve the project) are made by the
Environmental Assessment Board. There is, however, an overriding
ministerial power (requiring Cabinet approval) to alter the
Board's decision within 28 days.
STANDING
I am concerned about the description of parties entitled to
appear before the Environmental Assessment Board. According to
Section 12(4) of the Act, these include the proponent, persons who
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-7
require a hearing and any other person the Board determines.
According to Section 18(16) of the Act, the Ministry of the
Environment has the power to take part in proceedings before the
Board. The Act is silent on the limitations, if any, that the
Board could place on those who ask for standing but are not listed
in the legislation. While 1 support the retention of such
discretion, guidelines or criteria should be developed to assist
the Board in determining which parties should have standing.
Furthermore, listing the criteria would be a further step in
clarifying and opening up the entire assessment process. Criteria
could include: any person or group wishing to present any
perspective, viewpoint or interests not represented by other
parties; any person or group with a previously demonstrated
interest in the matter before the Board; or any person or group
able to contribute to the Board's understanding of the proposed
undertaking.
Because of the unique relationship that northerners,
particularly in native communities, have in relation to their
environment, they should have ready access to the deliberations of
the Board, particularly with respect to undertakings in their
region. It is obvious no project which might affect a native
community should proceed without native representation before the
Board, if it is requested.
3.7 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Board develop guidelines to
assist its determination of who has standing before the
Board; and that such guidelines provide that standing shall
be granted to any native community which may be concerned
about any effects of an undertaking.
PUBLIC RECORD
The Environmental Assessment Board is to be commended for its
liberal interpretation of standing for public participants with an
interest in the matters before it. However, if any such hearings,
or the process as a whole, is to have real meaning, all parties
involved in it need equal access to information in order to
guarantee all are treated as equals. But there is an even more
vital reason: public acceptance of the process of environmental
assessment, as distinct from acceptance of individual projects, is
essential.
It was made clear to the Commission that Section 31(1) is
insufficient for this purpose. Background studies and reports are
crucially important in making reasonable decisions; while 1
recognize some internal corporate documents are confidential of
necessity, all consultants' reports, studies and background
materials on which a decision may be based should be part of the
public record. This includes studies which the Government uses as
part of its review.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-8
3.8 Recommendation:
That the public record maintained by the Ministry of the
Environment for undertakings subject to environmental
assessment Include any report or study relied on by the
proponent or by any Government agency reviewing the
environmental assessment.
At present, there is no statutory requirement regarding the
precise location of the public record. Section 31(1) requires
that the Minister "shall cause to h>i ^Tuintained a vecord.. .".
The Ministry, however, has provided an informal procedure of
making the public record available at local depositories.
As was pointed out to us repeatedly, communication between
proponents, the Ministry and the local residents is, on occasion,
difficult. Given the unique situation in the north, the distance
between communities and the lack of communication facilities, it
is vital that all nearby communities which could be affected by a
proposal north of 50 have access to the public record. That would
include municipal offices in communities north of 50 as well as
all native communities, through their respective band offices.
3.9 Recommendation:
That copies of the public record be maintained by the
Ministry of the Environment for proposed undertakings north
of 50 at the Northern Development Authority and at affected
northern communities in Band offices.
PUBLIC NOTICE
At present, no public notice is required by the Environmental
Assessment Act until after the proponent has formally submitted
its assessment and the Ministry of the Environment has completed
reviewing it. The Commission became aware of considerable dissat-
isfaction with the lateness of such public notice, particularly
for projects with significant environmental effects. A typical
comment was that of the Canadian Environmental Law Research
Foundation which, in its November, 1982, submission to me, said a
project which has been discussed and reviewed in relative secrecy
for several months can be perceived as having been agreed on
before public notice was given, and that major decisions have been
made behind closed doors without input from interested parties.
Clearly, the answer is earlier and more comprehensive public
notice. There is no particular reason to believe that such notice
would lead to increased delay, and timing should be included in
the proponent's existing project timetable, if such timetables
exist. Despite industry's occasional protests claiming increased
delay and expense, it is clear that any additional administrative
and advertising costs resulting from proper public notice would be
offset by Improved input at the early stages.
Moreover, by alleviating public concern, earlier public input
could reduce the time needed for the full environmental
assessment. In fact, with the further consultation of all
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-9
parties, such notice could eliminate any need for an expensive and
time-consuming hearing process. Finally, of course, it must be
noted that the need for an essentially just and sensible process
can never be discarded on the grounds of short-term necessity.
Clearly, there is room for improvement in the Act. The
Commission's two case studies. The Road to Detour Lake and The
Onakawana Project , provided considerable detail that there would
have been a considerable benefit if outside parties had been given
the opportunity for earlier input. (The Detour Lake Road was
finally ruled not subject to environmental assessment, while the
Onakawana project did not proceed.)
3.10 Recommendation:
That for every undertaking subject to the Environmental
Assessment Act , the Ministry of the Environment prepare a
concise summary or screening document that describes the
proposed undertaking, sets out the schedule contemplated for
its completion, identifies a proponent of the undertaking,
provides a preliminary evaluation of potential environmental
effects and contains a copy of any guidelines for preparing
the environmental assessment document issued by the Ministry.
3.11 Recommendation:
That the public have access to any record maintained by the
Minister of Environment under the Environmental Assessment
Act %ri.th respect to a proposed undertaking from the time the
screening document Is released.
3.12 Recommendation:
That the requirements for public notice under the
Environmental Assessment Act be expanded to provide for
earlier and more extensive dissemination of information to
the public about proposed undertakings by:
(a) immediate and widespread public notice and
dissemination of the screening document by the
Ministry of the Environment when all information
required for the document is available;
(b) similar public notice by the Ministry of the
receipt of the completion of an environmental
assessment document indicating how interested
persons may have access to the document and how
submissions commenting on the document may be made
in order to be included in the Government's review
of the environmental assessment document.; and
(c) similar public notice by the Ministry of completion
of the Government's review of the environmental
assessment document, including how interested
persons may request a hearing.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-10
3.13 Recommendation:
That wide-spread public notice by advertisement and mailing
be given of any decision to hold a hearing by the
Environmental Assessment Board; that such notice not be
restricted to notification of previously identified persons;
and that a minimum of 60 days notice be given of any hearing
involving an undertaking north of 50.
3.14 Recommendation:
That public notice under the Environmental Assessment Act
involving undertakings that either the Ministry of the
Environment or the Northern Development Authority consider to
be of interest to northern communities be made in the
appropriate native language and provided to potentially
Interested local governments. Band Councils and northern
residents; and that all such notices indicate what further
notices, if any, will be given.
A publication which 1 found to be very useful is "EA Update"
- it is widely circulated on a regular basis by the Ministry of
the Environment and contains information on the status of environ-
mental assessments and details of any changes in law, regulations,
guidelines, procedures or policies affecting assessments under the
Environmental Assessment Act . "EA Update", should, however, be
expanded and disseminated as follows:
3.15 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of the Environment's publication, "EA
Update", include all requirements for public notice, both in
general and with respect to particular assessments; and that
"EA Update" be distributed in a timely manner to all northern
communities.
One purpose of earlier notice is to encourage earlier public
response and identification of public concerns. Proponents should
be asked to include details of any public response or consultation
which may have occurred during the design of the undertaking and
the preparation of the environmental assessment in the assessment
document.
3.16 Itecommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Act be amended to specify
that the environmental assessment document contains a full
report on all public response or consultation in which the
proponent was involved while planning and designing the
undertaking and preparing the assessment.
A cause for concern involves what is described under the
Guidelines for the Preparation of Environmental Assessments ,
as class environmental assessment. It was designed to cover
groups of projects which are "relatively small in scale y peour
frequently y and have a generally predictable range of effects ...
likely to cause relatively minor effects in most cases."
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-11
The Ministry of the Environment and others contend that, in
the words of David Redgrave, Assistant Deputy Minister of the
Ministry of the Environment, at the Thunder Bay hearing in April
of 1983, class assessments have "streamlined the process and
enabled proponents to incorporate the principles of the Act into
their planning and program delivery systems in an effective and
efficient manner." Certainly, class assessments can serve two
purposes: first, to provide basic environmental evaluation of
projects and activities having similar environmental effects too
small to warrant full-scale assessment and, second, to identify
the most important environmental concerns of individual projects
within the assessed class. The second of these implies a
two-stage assessment process in which specific projects might be
"bumped up" to be considered individually after a class assessment
is completed.
The question in my mind is whether there really is a category
of projects which can be described as "likely to cause minor
effects in most cases". According to testimony before the
Commission, even relatively small undertakings can have
significant and long-lasting effects on the environment and social
structure of the north. Moreover, the cumulative effect of
relatively small projects can be substantial for the fragile
environment north of 50. For example, a reserve which has long
been isolated from other communities through lack of road access,
may be substantially affected by even a short access road near the
reserve. In the same way, individual decisions about access to
lakes, or for access roads for forest fires and campgrounds, may
seemingly have little individual effect on the environment but the
cumulative impact of such decisions could irreversibly change the
environment of the north.
In addition, there are two grounds for concern about the
possible misuse of class assessment: first, that it can be
applied to major activities of the same class or kind that
actually have substantially different environmental effects,
without the safeguard of adequate "bump-up" provisions. The most
important instances involve the Ministry of Natural Resources as
proponent, in keeping with the Ministry's Draft Class
Environmental Assessment for Forest Management .
Commenting on an early draft of that document, the Ministry
of the Environment pointed out that "The (draft) states ...
there is 'considerable variation of construction standards of
Forest Access Roads in terms of road right-of-way , slope,
geometries, grade and surface requirements ...', Such a statement
does not appear consistent with the concept of class environmental
assessments" . The comment was made by V.W. Rudik, Assistant
Director of the Environmental Approvals Branch of the Ministry of
the Environment in a letter to the Land Use Coordination Branch of
the Ministry of Natural Resources, dated February 27, 1981.
The Ministry also said that, "Access roads are considered
a significant component of the forest management activity. Not
only do they have the potential for significant environmental
effects from the construction activity but they also carry with
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-12
them major implications with respect to access to previously
inaccessible areas."
In addition to concern about the actual environmental impact
of certain classes of projects, there is a second concern that too
many temporary exemptions are granted while class assessments are
being prepared. Many exemptions have been in effect for several
years or have lapsed, despite which activities within the class
continue. Class assessment must not be used to postpone
assessment indefinitely. Furthermore, confusion results when
relatively small-scale projects (the Smooth Rock Falls Municipal
Landfill Site, for example) are subject to the full process under
the Environmental Assessment Act , while the status of potentially
large-scale undertakings remains uncertain.
3.17 Recommendation:
That all class assessments under the Environmental Assessment
Act effecting areas north of 50 contain a "bump-up" provision
to ensure that environmentally significant undertakings
within the class are subject to individual assessment.
3.18 Recommendation:
That each "bump-up" provision In a class assessment under the
Environmental Assessment Act indicate the circumstances in
which the "bump-up" is to occur - e.g., by request of
affected persons, by identification of resource-use
conflicts, and by criteria such as unique ecological factors
which call for individual assessment.
FUNDING
Having described the Environmental Assessment Act and the
process of environmental assessment, it is appropriate now to
comment on some of the issues that the process involves, beginning
with the matter of funding.
The promise of public participation in the environmental
process is empty unless it is backed with a fair, clear-cut
funding system. My views on this have been influenced to some
extent by the process of this Commission, as mandated by Order-in-
Council, and I would like to make certain observations which
result from that experience.
First, all government ministries and agencies which operate
north of 50 have found it necessary to provide extraordinary
services in order to communicate effectively with the people
there. While direct funding to the representatives of specific
interest groups may not be the rule, indirect subsidies in the
form of transportation, communications and support services (e.g.,
office, clerical staff) have become recognized as necessary, given
the unique physical and social characteristics of the north.
Lack of funding, direct or indirect, means virtual exclusion
of northerners from the decision-making process. At the
Commission itself, there was little doubt that failure to fund
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-13
travel, research and writing of submissions would have resulted in
levels of information and public participation than were less than
needed to study relevant issues fully.
The lack of established criteria for funding has not created
insurmountable barriers to public access. In many instances, the
absence of criteria on which to base funding decisions has been as
successful as established criteria, because of a level of reason-
ableness and representativeness on the part of all concerned.
Nonetheless, specific criteria do provide important guidelines for
such decisions and lessen the chances of employing an ad hoc
approach that is justifiably open to criticism.
There was widespread support for public funding in
presentations made to this Commission and in the recommendations
of other bodies. For example, a review of recommendations shows
that, among others, the Ontario Royal Commission on Electric Power
Planning, the Lancaster Sound Assessment Panel, the Canadian
Environmental Advisory Council, the Economic Council of Canada and
the Law Reform Commission of Canada have all given clear-cut
support to public funding of public participation.
Their views were summarized for us in November, 1982, by the
Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation. So too were
underlying rationales: the need to reduce the differing levels of
power which exist between companies, organizations and governments
on one side of a project and people and associations on the other;
the existence of conflicting interests; the need to enhance
the cost-effectiveness of the assessment process; the need to
ensure fairness.
Funding, either by the proponent or Government, must be made
available to ensure that interveners produce useful and effective
material for consideration. I recognize that this may be
considered costly, especially in times of restraint, but the
public good and the long-term harm which results from inadequate
planning and lack, of public participation far outweigh this
consideration. That is especially true in the north, with its
particular problems of transportation and communication, its
limited financial resources and where sources of information and
technical expertise are rarely available locally.
In the same way that the Royal Commission on the Northern
Environment could not have gathered information from
representative sources across the north without offering funding,
it is impossible to conceive of a genuine environmental assessment
process operating without appropriate funding of those potentially
affected by a proposal. Clearly, it is needed, particularly for
participants who appear before the Environmental Assessment
Board.
Criteria are needed, I believe, to assist in the distribution
and use of granted monies. It is not enough to say that all costs
directly related to public participation should be covered.
Instead, money should be made available for approved uses,
including such direct costs as those required to make written
submissions on the environmental assessment document itself.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-14
expert assistance with such submissions or at Board hearings,
research, expert witnesses, legal costs, transportation and
communications.
In its submission, the Town of Iroquois Falls said, "A
substantial amount of money is needed for vesearoh in order to
prepare a submission before the hearing and to cover the costs for
the hearing(s) itself. Most interest groups, individuals and/or
municipalities are financially unable to prepare for a hearing( s) .
Interested parties may have no option but to back out of the
proceedings if more than one hearing is necesssary , as is often
the case."
The Commission's criteria, set out in Schedule B of
Order-in-Council 1900/77, can be recommended as generally suitable
in determining which groups seeking financial aid should receive
it. To avoid perceived conflicts of interest or bias, it is
necessary to administer funds through an independent body. The
Commission itself experimented with both "arms-length" and
internal funding committees. There was little difficulty with the
latter, but I have concluded, that a separate committee or agency
is nonetheless preferable, particularly for decentralized, local
decision-making, in order to avoid any possible or perceived
bias.
The key question, of course, is: who should pay the costs of
public participation? A special levy on proponents of development
projects north of 50, based on a percentage of the projected
capital costs, would be feasible, initially on an experimental
basis, if the undertaking had the capacity to bear the expense.
If it could not and the undertaking involved the public interest,
the Government could contribute some portion or all of the levy.
In the case of a public undertaking (i.e., one in which a
municipality was the proponent) it would also be required to
contribute a part of the funds, if necessary. The Northern
Development Authority may become an additional funding source for
public participation.
Awarding costs only after a hearing is not effective, since
it means interested parties would be required to play funding
roulette: to face the costs of researching and organizing a brief
or submission without knowing whether funds were going to be
available. No one who needs public monies can afford to take this
kind of risk.
3.19 Recommendation:
That north of 50, funding for public participation in the
environmental assessment process be mandatory under the
Environmental Assessment Act ; and that a special fund be
established on an experimental basis to fund participants in
the environmental assessment process to which proponents and
government ministries or agencies contribute, as may be
required by the Minister of the Environment.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-15
3.20 Reconunendation:
That funding for public participation in the environmental
assessment process be provided to groups or individuals with
a relevant interest in the matter, to the extent that
financial assistance is needed to ensure adequate partici-
pation and the presentation of all relevant views.
3.21 Recommendation:
That the public participation fund be administered by an
"arms-length" body (see Recommendation 3.24).
3.22 Recommendation:
That, with the assistance of interested persons, criteria be
developed to guide decisions on allocating funds to persons
for participation in the environmental assessment process
under the Environmental Assessment Act ; that these criteria
give special consideration to the needs of northern residents
and to others with needs arising from the nature of their
Interests or their place of residence; and that these
criteria also establish appropriate requirements for accoun-
ting by recipients of funds received for participation.
3.23 Recommendation:
That, a list of approved uses for funding of participation in
the environmental assessment process be developed by an
"arms-length" body and include funding for written submis-
sions on the environmental assessment document, expert
assistance in preparing submissions, research, expert
witnesses, legal counsel, translation and communications.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
I see the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee as
playing an important role in the environmental assessment process.
It is comprised of three members appointed by the Minister of the
Environment and is responsible for giving advice on a variety of
matters, including exemptions from the Act and the designations of
undertakings for assessment. The recent establishment of the
Committee is a positive step in the evolution of the Environmental
Assessment Act and its procedures. As an advisory body, it can
serve as a conduit for public participation in the discretionary
decisions required under the Act.
The Committee's present terms of reference are narrowly
defined. It is directed to provide advice to the Government,
through the Minister of the Environment, on requests for
exemptions from the provisions of the Act, and to recommend
whether an undertaking should be subject to the Act. The
Committee is also expected to comment and advise on the reasons
given by those making proposals and requesting exemptions,
particularly when the project has implications related to public
Protecting the Novtherm Environment
3-16
health and safety, economic necessity, and has significant
environmental effects.
No other powers are granted to the Committee which,
according to agreed-upon procedures, is only informed of selected
requests for exemption and designation. It is directed by letter
from the Minister to advise on particular undertakings or it may,
on its own initiative, consider a proposed undertaking. Only a
few projects (15 to date) have resulted in a Committee report and
recommendation.
Submissions received by the Commission were virtually unani-
mous in calling for an open environmental assessment screening
process. It is a matter of necessity to decide early on under the
Environmental Assessment Act which projects could have a
significant impact on the environment and which will not. There
is usually considerable public interest in projects which clearly
will have significant effects and the Government correctly
recognized that such an advisory group can play an important role
in this process.
However, it is necessary to go further than the Committee's
current role in weighing the facts presented as part of each
request for exemption or designation and in encouraging public
input into the resultant recommentations. It should be authorized
to review all exemption and designation requests received by the
Minister. If it so chooses, it should be able to set guidelines
or a "threshold" for undertakings not requiring individual
review.
The Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee would also be
a suitable "arms-length" body to deal with other important
unresolved or entirely discretionary matters in the environmental
assessment process. I am well aware of the implications of such
recommendations on the existing resources of the Committee but
independent consideration of important environmental matters
would, in the end, be cost-effective in avoiding existing
expensive, time-consuming conflicts in the environmental
assessment process.
Finally, I am much encouraged by the Committee's present
procedures, particularly with the emphasis on timely consideration
of undertakings referred to it and with the openness of its review
process — including public access to its report to the Minister
after a decision is made. Its continued credibility depends on
maintaining the open and fair procedures already noted.
3.24 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee be
directed by the Minister of the Environment to advise,
following a thorough investigation involving full public
participation, on the following matters:
(1) all exemption and designation requests received by the
Minister;
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-17
(2) the Guidelines for Pre-Submlsslon Consultation and
the pre-submission consultation process;
(3) class assessment procedures, including "bump-up"
provisions;
(4) procedures for early determination of the proponent;
(5) criteria for funding public participation in the
environmental assessment process (including the
selection of applicants for funding) and accountability
for the use of the funds; and
(6) procedures for resolving interprovincial and federal/
provincial conflicts.
3.25 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee
administer the public participation fund as called for in
Recommendation 3.19 and 3.21 and decide on applications for
funding.
3.26 Recommendation:
That the Committee annually review and report on its
activities and the state of environmental assessment in
Ontario to the Legislature, through the Minister of
Environment.
PRIVATE SECTOR APPLICATION
I come now to the application of the Environmental Assessment
Act to private-sector projects, the second part of the two-tier
system, under which such projects are exempt unless designated.
It is worth noting at this point that, of the four private
undertakings that have been so designated, two were for the area
north of 50 — a fact which may underline the vulnerability of the
northern ecology.
The first private-sector designation, of central importance
to the Commission, was that of Reed Ltd.'s activities. Others
include the proposed development of a lignite deposit by Onakawana
Development Ltd., a hydro-electric dam on the Spanish River and a
sewage project on Fighting Island.
I also note that three of these designated undertakings date
back to 1977/78, illustrating the lack of application of the Act
to private undertakings in recent years. This is especially
worrisome in view of the Ministy of the Environment's concern, as
stated in its November, 1977, submission to the Commission, that
"The northern environment is still a frontier in many ways.
Predicted effects of developments in the south cannot be readily
translated to the north and in many areas the impacts of various
developments are not fully understood,"
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-18
Although some representatives of government and industry
disagreed, there was widespread support in submissions to the
Commission for applying the Environmental Assessment Act to the
private sector. I repeatedly heard comments like those made in
February, 1983, by the Algonquin Wildlands League that "the
goals of environmental protection and open decision-making provide
no reason for distinguishing between public and private ventures."
Others pointed out that such a distinction is environmentally
irrelevant; that the private sector should now be well acquainted
with the Act, either because it was familiar with the process in
Ontario or because of direct experience in other jurisdictions.
Indeed, as indicated in the case of Onakawana Development Ltd.,
private proponents sometimes actually welcome the opportunity to
alleviate public concern through the environmental assessment
process, and this company so elected at the outset.
The Government of Ontario now has considerable experience in
using the Act to assess the environmental consequences of
public-sector undertakings. Applications of the Act to the
private sector is long overdue and the Government has been remiss
in not working actively toward the day when the Environmental
Assessment Act will apply to all undertakings.
The Act has great importance as a planning tool in collecting
and analysing data about the potential environmental consequences
of an undertaking. Given the sensitive nature of the northern
environment, the destruction already suffered in the environment,
and the socio-economic dislocation that has already occurred and
will continue to occur unless the consequences of development are
analysed beforehand, it is imperative that the Environmental
Assessment Act be supported by the Government in general,
particularly by the Ministry of the Environment, which administers
it north of 50. Many of the submissions to the Commission warned
that there is a trend towards "weakening" or "diluting" the Act;
clearly, any such tendency must not be permitted.
The Commission received numerous submissions about the
Environmental Assessment Act and hundreds of specific suggestions
about how to improve the process under the Act and the Act itself.
As will become clear, these proved helpful in formulating my own
recommendations; however, in order to provide a framework for
those recommendations, it is necessary to focus on the three broad
areas of concern suggested by the evidence.
First, there is perceived resistance to the Act by Government
itself: ministries were seen as reluctant partners in the
application of the process; in the words of the submission by the
Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation, November, 1982,
"The source of this resistance is that many government officials
see the EAA as causing delay, being burdensome and unnecessary.
However y the evidence doesn't support these views. When projects
have been delayed, it has usually been because they were not
feasible or advisable in the first place. The road to development
is littered with such white elephants as the South Cayuga Waste
Disposal facility, the Maple Land Fill site, the Darlington
Nuclear Generating Station, the Reed Tract, the Inco Spanish River
Dam, and the West Montrose Dam. All of these projects have died
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-19
or languished not because of the environmental assessment process,
but because of problems which were or could have been revealed
through the EA process."
Examples within the Commission's own experience bear this
out: our studies of the road to Detour Lake and the proposed
Onakawana project; the evidence presented at hearings by MOE and
MNR concerning the Land Use Guidelines; the class assessment on
forest management. All pointed to a buffetted, weakened Ministry
of the Environment and a lack of commitment in giving maximum
support to the Environmental Assessment Act .
Second, because of the Government's wide discretion to
exempt, or its failure to designate, projects that clearly have a
significant environmental impact, decisions appear to reflect
political expediency rather than environmental consequences; nor
are these decisions the result of appropriate public discussion
and input.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, there is a lack
of guidelines for designating private-sector projects for
assessment. At the Thunder Bay hearing in April, 1983, Paul
Rennick, Director, Environmental Assessment Branch, Ministry of
the Environment, explained that the Act provides for a
"grandfathering" period to "try and make the Act and the
processes more efficient and effective and use the Government, if
you like, as a trial ... (before the) process ... was extended to
private industry." The use of the specific, legislated process
embodied in the Environmental Assessment Act would be preferable
to the discretionary, ad hoc process that has failed to meet
public concerns regarding many private projects.
Third, opponents of the Act, particularly industry and
municipal representatives, perceive that the Act leads to
unnecessary and unacceptable delay, duplication of effort and
expense. This was presented at hearings only as opinion,
unsupported by any factual evidence. Few of those who made the
allegation had had any real experience with the Act or the
processes under it. The view of the Environmental Assessment Act
as simply another bureaucracy-inspired approvals scheme, rather
than as part of an overall planning process, came from a common
misunderstanding amongst certain persons and groups making
submissions. I agree that duplication in ministry programs as
they relate to Ontario north of 50 may contribute to this
misperception and it is one reason for recommending a Northern
Development Authority to coordinate the development process.
3.27 Recommendation:
That given the sensitivity of the environment and the unique
circumstances of development In the north, the Ministry of
the Environment designate all private undertakings which it
finds to have significant environmental effects north of 50
for environmental assessment under the Environmental
Assessment Act.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-20
3.28 Recommendation:
That in the determination of the "significance** of the
environmental effects of any undertaking by the Minister of
the Environment, the unique environment of northern Ontario
and its importance to the socio-economic health of its
residents, be considered, as well as expressions of public
concern and recommendations from the Environmental Assessment
Advisory Committee and the proposed Northern Development
Authority.
3.29 Recommendation:
That no further undertakings be exempted by the Minister of
the Environment from the Environmental Assessment Act on the
basis of historical criteria such as *'grandfathering*' or
"advanced stage of planning" north of 50.
COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT
Assessing each project as a whole — all of its elements
addressed at the appropriate time, as part of an assessment of the
total effect on the environment as defined by the Act — makes the
legislation and the process more coherent to the people involved
and to the public generally; at present, the private/public
distinction has occasionally led to piecemeal assessment and, even
without that problem, the definition of what comprises an
"undertaking" can be narrowly construed and result in a failure to
assess the total proposal or project.
The Commission report. The Road to Detour Lake , showed the
difficulties inherent in assessing separate elements of a proposal
in isolation: the proposed gold mine itself was not designated
under the Environmental Assessment Act . However, the question of
whether or not the road to the mine site (which was also a road to
the other resources of the area) was a public undertaking was
internally debated (due in part to the the reluctance of the
Ministry of Natural Resources to be officially designated a
"proponent".) In time, the road was held to be a public
undertaking under the Act but was later exempted.
In his submission of July, 1982, the-then Minister of the
Environment, The Hon. Keith Norton, said these "shortcomings
(in the projeot) stemmed mainly from the faot that the public
sector road-building activities were subject to the Act, while the
private sector activity of establishing the mine that eventually
triggered a need for transportation and other infrastructure , was
not subject. This precluded the comprehensive and public
consideration of all aspects of development at the concept stage
when there was still flexibility and choice; but that is the
benefit of hindsight."
In their suhmisL: ioa , the Canadian Environmental Law
Association asked the Commission rhetorically, in November, 1982,
"Does it make any sense to assess the social, economic and
environmental impacts of a road to a mine, and not assess impacts
of the mine itself?"
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-21
To that I can only answer, "No".
The Minister of the Environment's passive involvement in this
matter should not go unnoticed. In recognizing this "out of
phase" planning, he indicated in July, 1982, that the Government
might address such situations through the Environmental Assessment
Advisory Committee. I agree that the Committee, through public
consultation on specific undertakings, could play a useful part in
establishing guidelines. However, as a general policy, all
private-sector projects that are contingent on public-sector
involvement or upon which public-sector undertakings are
contingent, should be made subject to the Environmental Assessment
Act if the public-sector undertaking is subject to it.
The Road to Detour Lake case study also showed that the
Ministry of Natural Resources lacks awareness of the necessity of
fully evaluating the impact of access roads. In our northern
hearings, the creation of these roads was, in fact, one of the
most contentious issues presented to us, and is discussed
elsewhere in this report. Yet the Ministry, despite its own
statements that the Detour Lake road might be part of a regional
development and not simply a specific site access, showed little
inclination to do any overall public assessment of the benefits
and liabilities to northern Ontario of such a major project,
either within its own legislation or under the Environmental
Assessment Act .
3.30 Recommendation:
That all aspects (including related infrastructure, such as
access roads) of site-specific undertakings subject to
assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act be covered
by a single comprehensive environmental assessment.
3.31 Recommendation:
That the Minister of the Environment designate all private
undertakings for environmental assessment where related
public undertakings are subject to the Environmental
Assessment Act .
PROVINCIAL BORDERS
I should point out I am well aware that developments,
especially those on a large scale, are complex undertakings often
involving considerable commitments of money, time and energy.
There are other complicating questions as well and one of these
can arise in projects where there is overlapping jurisdiction,
sometimes between the provincial and federal Governments,
sometimes between bodies within the province and — especially in
areas near the Manitoba or Quebec borders — between provinces.
Several submissions to the Commission expressed concern that
proposals regarding projects near provincial borders and involving
significant environmental effects might result in competing or
overlapping assessments or might even escape assessment entirely.
Certainly, as our study, The Road to Detour Lake made clear, there
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-22
is disquieting evidence of what happens when a project develops
near a provincial boundary that has road and power services close
at hand in the sister province. The road in question called for
160 kilometres of new road in Ontario whereas Quebec offered
access and Hydro at no cost to the Company. The mining project
was within Ontario's jurisdiction and the province decided to
accommodate the company's timetable when jurisdictional conflict
was involved.
The result, as fully explained in the Commission case study,
was that, ultimately, the road to Detour Lake was exempted from
assessment and no effort was made to examine whether the private
portion (the mine itself) should be subject to environmental
evaluation.
There is little cause to believe that similar situations,
with competing provincial interests or provincial-federal
interests, would yield different results, given the relative
importance assigned to economic and political factors as against
that assigned the environment. That has been clear in at least
two other projects, the test drilling in northwestern Ontario by
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and the Keating Channel project in
Toronto. The provincial Government must act as the leader, in
concert with other provinces and with the federal Government, in
establishing a method for resolving such conflicts.
The various jurisdictions must develop clear guidelines;
excellent suggestions were included in the submission of the
Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation, which pointed out
that it "would be preferable , from an environmental and
planning standpoint y to have a resource development within a 100
km radius of a provincial boundary assessed by a federal
government authority , or to have an agreement between provinces
for joint assessment by both." Other such ideas should be
developed, after public consultation, under the aegis of the
Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee.
From responses to questions posed by the Commission, it
became clear that the Ministry of the Environment has dealt with
jurisdictional problems in an ad hoc fashion; suggestions from the
Ministry included such mechanisms as joint hearings under the
Consolidated Hearings Act and participation as parties in the
hearings of other jurisdictions. R.M. Robinson, executive
chairman of the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office, in
a submission of August, 1982, assured the Commission that "the
federal process is sufficiently flexible to allow for joint
reviews where appropriate."
However, there is still the question of determining which is
the lead jurisdiction and of how to deal with possible conflict if
parties are unable to agree on jurisdictional issues. Clearly,
Ontario should take a leadership role in initiating discussions to
design a mechanism for determining the proper jurisdiction(s) for
the assessments of proposed undertakings with significant
environmental effects. There must be a reciprocal response
among other jurisdictions and a determination to resolve potential
conflict prior to dealing with specific proposals.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-23
3.32 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee, after
public consultation, develop guidelines and procedures for
environmental assessments of undertakings with trans-border
or interjurisdictional effects in order to lessen jurisdic-
tional disputes.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND RESOURCES
Having now dealt at length with the Environmental Assessment
Act , the Environmental Assessment Board and the Environmental
Assessment Advisory Committee, it is necessary to examine in a
resources-oriented context the perceptions of development and
environmental protection in the north.
Human uses of natural resources in the north form the very
reason for the presence of people in the region. Traditionally,
natives managed to use those resources in a manner that ensured
their own long-term survival and the integrity of the environment.
Today, that integrity is little more than a poignant memory of the
past. All over the world, human abuse of the environment has
caused pollution, destruction and scarring; once-abundant fish are
gone from now-poisoned waters; areas once carpeted with trees and
fauna have been reduced to scrub-brush and rock.
North of 50, large-scale mining and logging have been
restricted largely to easily accessible areas. The high cost of
transportation and production have tended to act as natural
guardians of resources. Increasingly, however, those have become
ineffective: many northerners believe technology and demand will
move development northward. International markets and economies
will continue to play a significant role in forest and mineral
futures.
We will look further in this report at the ongoing results of
development and the inherent costs to traditional values. We can
acknowledge at this point, however, that the economic future of
the north depends on its ability to sustain some level of
industrial activity. The current debate is over the degree of
resource-based development which should be permitted and how this
can be accomplished at minimum expense to the natural
environment.
The sense of the evidence given before the Commission by
northerners was that development is acceptable if it is
controlled. In the words of Michael Power, the Mayor of
Geraldton, speaking at a Commission hearing in that community,
"Time and again ^ we in the north have said that we want develop-
ment ^ but we want aontvolled development."
At that same session, Ell Moonias, Chief of the Marten Falls
Band, expressed the same view by saying, "We are not against
development, but we do not want the land destroyed in the
process."
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-24
In Sioux Lookout, Brian Anderson told us that "the people
... want to have the beauty of the unspoiled environment and, at
the same time, we want a high standard of living. Clearly , there
has to be some compromise in order for everyone to have at least
some of their needs met."
Chief Andrew Rickard, whose actions lay behind the
establishment of this Commission, said in a submission on behalf
of Grand Council Treaty #9: "We support development, but it
must be controlled development to enhance environment
protection."
Talson Rody of the Cochrane Board of Trade, speaking at a
Timmins hearing echoed Chief Rickard: "We willingly join
environmentalist groups, native organizations and others in
demanding that all industrial developments north of 50 be carried
out with proper regard for social and economic needs of the local
or nearby communities and for the protection and restoration of
the natural environment."
I quote these northerners to stress the importance of this
point of view to the people of the north. There was also strong
support from environmental groups, native peoples and tourism
industry representatives for protecting the northern environment
as a first priority, in preference to economic activity. Many
spoke of a conservation ethic which holds that it is our
responsibility to preserve the environment for the use and
enjoyment of future generations.
At a Red Lake hearing Jean Evans and Ron Robinson of a group
called TREES (an acronym for Taking Responsible Environmental and
Economic Safeguards) expressed this as the view that it is,
"simply inconceivable that one generation should have the right to
deprive all those succeeding it of their rights to a natural
heritage ."
Charlie O'Keese, Chief of the Fort Hope Band, speaking at a
hearing in Geraldton said, "It is important for us to keep the
land for our children, they are our future ... We are afraid of
what will happen to the future of our children if the land is
destroyed in any way."
A DIFFERENT VIEW
Some northerners and representatives of resource-based
industries have a different view. They have called for less
control of those industries and warned of too much emphasis on
protecting the environment. According to their argument, the
north is a vast wilderness — sparsely populated, rich with
resources — a place where the emphasis should be on economic gain
rather than environmental protection, at least to the extent of
encouraging large-scale industrial development operating free of
restrictions and regulations.
John Huggins, president of the Tinimins-Porcupine Chamber of
Commerce, spoke to the Commission in Timmins: "In general, it
is suggested that stringent regulations ... be modified as
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-25
development occurs in move remote areas ... particularly where
the terrain is naturally unattractive for any future use, the cost
of less stringent environmental controls is balanced by the
greater cost for development and production."
At the same session, the Ontario Mining Association warned
that any attempt to establish new industry in the north would
require a trade-off between the needs of industry and security of
the environment. Similarly, Douglas Pillet, corporate secretary
of Union Miniere Explorations and Mining (UMEX) told the
Commission at a hearing in Pickle Lake that, "if you recognize
... that north of the 50th parallel is Ontario's last frontier and
that its development must be encouraged, then you should say so,
and make the rules for development fair, clear and reasonable,"
Bernard Ostry, then Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry
of Industry and Trade, writing in a 1982 submission to the
Commission, said, "I appreciate fully the desirability of
raising environmental standards , and of considering social
benefits and costs, as well as market factors; but one must give
careful consideration to the possible economic impacts of imposing
additional costs and constraints on cur industries,"
Native groups were among those who spoke most forcefully —
and, I may say, most eloquently — about the condition of the
natural heritage. Having suffered personally because of several
notable instances of environmental damage, they were suspicious of
resource development and production activities, and determined to
maintain and pass on their culture and knowledge, despite the
threat posed by increasing development.
The record also speaks for their concerns: 15 years ago, the
provincial Government was forced to ban commercial fishing in the
Wabigoon/English/Winnipeg river system because of toxic mercury
levels found in fish. Mercury in the system downstream from a
Dryden pulp and paper mill resulted in some locations in levels in
fish 30 to 40 times higher than what were considered to be safe
limits for human consumption. The Islington (Whitedog) and Grassy
Narrows Bands lost commercial fishing and guiding opportunities,
the principal employment and income opportunities; and, in
addition, suffered the shutdown of a traditionally important
source of food. In the aftermath, rates of violent crime and
alcoholism increased — the result of the rage and frustration
people experienced when faced with the damage to their
environment, their lives and their bodies. In the words of one
group, "Mercury has robbed us of our health, and our
psychological well-being, our lifestyles, our jobs and our food,"
Even when there is less out-and-out damage, problems occur in
native communities when road development, commercial logging and
hydro-electric dam construction leave them without their
traditional land base of operations and destroy their ability to
provide at least a subsistance-level existence for themselves and
their families.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-26
How then can we meet the needs of people who live in the
north by ensuring that they are protected against further harm
resulting from development and yet still maintain a healthy
resource-based economy in the region? We begin examining those
questions by focusing on the largest single element in the north:
water.
WATER: THE MAJOR RESOURCE
Water, after all, is the most precious element, the prime
requisite of life. You can live without any one of the so called
necessities of life but you cannot live without water. Water will
increasingly determine where growth takes place and the economic
dynamics of the province. It is a resource we cannot squander.
It is the key to transportation, energy, industrial production and
sanitation. In the north, natural watercourses are important to
day-to-day living. Water is the north's only highway network:
snowmobiles, tractor trains and ski-equipped aircraft use the
frozen lakes and streams of winter to forge the principal social
and commercial linkage between communities. In summer, small
boats and float-equipped planes use those same waterways. All
year long the northern lakes, rivers and their shorelines are a
vital food warehouse, without which many families would go
hungry.
Despite the tragedy of the Wabigoon/English/Winnipeg system
it is still possible to prevent damage to much of the water of
northern Ontario. In order to do so, however, there must be wide-
spread awareness that most uses of the land, especially in the
north, will have some consequences for the quality of the water,
particularly for the freshwater storehouse that is Ontario north
of 50.
Five major rivers drain into the Arctic watershed: the
Severn, Winisk, Attawapiskat , Albany and Moose rivers; the flow of
these waters is approximately 5,000 cubic metres per second, which
is slightly greater than the annual run-off from the Ontario
section of the Great Lakes, the Upper St. Lawrence and Ottawa
River systems combined. In addition to mighty rivers, the
landscape of the north is laced by thousands of lakes and endless
tracts of water-logged muskeg.
All human uses of water affect the environment in varying
degrees. Consider, for example, the impact of hydro-electric
development and water diversion on the north. The continental
surge of economic growth in the 1960 's and '70 's led to a rapid
increase in energy demands, peaking in the late 1970 's; the
development of more sophisticated commercial and consumer products
which use electricity has kept demand for hydro elevated, though
it has stopped growing, in part because of higher costs and in
part because of a new awareness of energy conservation in all its
forms.
Ontario Hydro has identified a number of sites for
development when and if energy demands require increased
generating capacity. Among them are locations on the Albany, the
Attawapiskat, the English, the Little Jackfish, the Moose, the
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-27
Severn and the Winisk Rivers. Damming these rivers which mainly
flow through the lowlands could cause disastrous flooding effects
on the land and wildlife of every form. (Such plans are now
shelved, however, and there have been proposals for making some of
the areas into provincial parks.)
Certainly, the people who have had experience with hydro
projects are critical of how they have been handled. A submission
from the Lac Seul Anishnabeg Band in 1983 recalled that, "As a
result of the oonstruotion of the Ear Falls hydro dam, the people
of Lao Seul lost lands, resources and part of their eaonomia base
— saarifiaed so that others could benefit. To make things even
worse, a traditional burial ground was flooded, leading to the
uncovering of graves and the bones of our ancestors. Those bones
remain as a silent, harsh reproach, a stain on the honour of those
who failed to make provision for them."
Willis McKay, Chief of the Matagami Band, speaking at
a Timmins hearing described a similar situation: "When the
people (of the Matagami Reserve) first moved to the reserve ...
the only development taking place was the construction of two dams
on the Matagami River. The land became flooded, and just like Lac
Seul, the burial grounds were covered ... We ourselves did not
receive electricity for another SO years. With the great loss of
wildlife, livelihood, culture and traditions, our people began in
despair to turn to alcohol."
Whenever, or if ever, Ontario Hydro — which, after all, is
ovmed by all of us — has reason to seek further development in
the north, it will have a special burden of proof regarding its
ability to respect the resources, the environment and, most of
all, the people of the north.
In addition to hydro-electric potential, water-impoverished
regions to the south (severe shortages in both the U.S. and Canada
are expected before the end of the century) are increasingly
interested in obtaining water for local consumption. In the U.S.,
the Ogallala Aquifer, the underground water reserve which
currently supplies the American mid- and southwestern regions, is
being pumped at a much greater rate than it is being
replenished. Many farmers in the Texas Panhandle and west-central
Kansas are reverting to dryland farming because of the increasing
costs of irrigation-system maintenance.
A proposed method of increasing supplies is to pump water out
of the Great Lakes at a higher rate. However, if more is removed
than can be replaced by snow and rain, the original volumes left
by glaciation will be undermined and levels will drop
permanently. Officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources
estimate that a half-centimetre drop in water levels in the
shipping channels would cost industry millions in lost business;
every 15-centimetre drop would cost Ontario Hydro approximately
$20 million annually in lost production; tourism revenues would
suffer as the price for providing recreational facilities (e.g.,
dredging, dock extensions) increased.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-28
Another proposal would be to divert water from northern
Ontario into the Great Lakes. In the 1940 's, a diversion was
built on the Albany River to take water down into Lake Nipigon,
which drains into Lake Superior. Since then two other water
transfers have been developed, one at Lac St. Joseph, diverting
Albany river water into the Lake Winnipeg system, and one at Long
Lac, which also transfers part of the headwaters of the Albany
river into Lake Superior. With increasing concern expressed by
politicians on the Canadian prairies and from the United States,
the pressure for more diversions is ever present. There is some
consolation with respect to the Great Lakes waters however, in
that while Ontario has jurisdiction over the northern half — all
of the eight American states, many of large populations, which
have jurisdiction over various parts of the southern half as well
as all of Lake Michigan have already demonstrated their joint
alarm over any diversion considerations.
As much as the growth, strength and power of Ontario has
risen through its wealth of water resources, the future
development and growth will fix and depend on the same needs,
while supporting continued population growth in unlimited numbers.
Our natural fresh water heritage was placed here for good reason.
No short-term government can presume to have the right or
authority to sell or divert our water before it has run its
natural course within the province without obtaining the people's
specific consensus. It is the soul of Ontario, here to be used
and to build around, not ever to be sold for other people's
preferences. That is not to say we will not be pressured to sell
and divert, for we already are called to participate in
discussions. We can, however, remain resolute and firmly resolve
to preserve the birthright of future generations against all
pressures.
A scheme known as the GRAND Canal Project involves blocking
off James Bay and separating it from Hudson Bay to the north
through a system of dikes or causeways extending from the Ontario
to the Quebec shoreline. James Bay would thus be turned into a
freshwater lake and this freshwater could then be transferred
southward through a series of stepped reservoirs, canals and
natural watercourses to the Great Lakes and routed to the Canadian
West and the U.S. Midwest. The social and environmental implica-
tions and economic costs of developing and maintaining such a
project could be enormous. However, benefits other than increased
water supply such as employment, saleable power surpluses and new
agricultural and industrial production could offset some of these
costs.
The inter-connectedness of the northern environment is all
too evident when considering how water resource development
schemes can adversely affect every aspect of life in the region.
For example, economic costs, in addition to the loss of
food-gathering, recreational and commercial fishing, can include:
a depletion in saleable timber; the social and emotional trauma
and dollar costs associated with breaking up and moving
communities; the loss of subsistence trapping and hunting
opportunities that would limit traditional native food and income
sources.
Protecting the Nopthezm Environment
3-29
In addition, the sudden appearance of an access road thourgh
a reserve and an influx of the construction workers employed on
these projects has a history of causing a deterioration of local
social and cultural values and result in increased rates of
alcoholism, violence and family breakdown.
WATER AND TREES
While water is a key element to life north of 50, it is the
presence of trees which promotes forestry and the forest products
industry. It is a leading employer and an underpinning of the
northern economy, a major shipper and exporter, and the province's
fifth-largest manufacturing sector. While I deal extensively with
the forest resource in a separate chapter, 1 wish to discuss here
certain impacts of industrial use of the northern forest.
Today, despite highly competitive economic conditions,
forest management agreements between the industry and the
provincial Government (through the Ministry of Natural Resources)
are being signed at an increasing rate. Much of the land north of
the 50th to the 51st parallel and even beyond is held largely
under the control of companies as a future warehouse of
merchantable timber. Here, native groups have become alarmed and
critical, basing their views on their all-too-coramon experiences.
The 1983 submission of the Armstrong Metis Association stated
vividly: "The forests to the south of here have been oonsumed ,
and now the beast with the endless appetite for trees turns our
way. Soon we will be left with a prairie of stumps and
slash,"
The presentation of Chief Thomas Fiddler and James Stevens,
quoted from at the beginning of this chapter, also contains a
devastating description of historical forest operations: "The
felling and consequent devastation of the hardwood forest in
southern Ontario in the 19th century has, apparently , provided few
lessons for foresters of the 20th century. In northern Ontario
the first three decades saw the effective demise of the great
white pine. A 'renewable resource' in the fantasy-land jargon of
foresters was gone from sustainable productivity and this tree
appears to have been deleted from consideration in the
future . "
In addition to the environmental costs of cutting discussed
in a later chapter, there are problems associated with pulp-mill
effluents (e.g., waste materials). These effluents include
organic materials which cause massive increases in algae growth
and asphyxiation of other organisms; suspended solids which affect
watercourses in a manner similar to sedimentation and that smother
vegetation, small invertebrates and fish eggs; and dissolved
metals, used in pulp manufacturing, which can be permanently
damaging to various organisms.
Overall, the effects of water pollution lead to a reduction
in the amount of solar energy in the ecosystem, to interference
with photosynthesis, to the presence of nutrients which stimulate
growth rates of undesirable species, possibly displacing more
desirable ones, to sedimentation and a resultant reduction of
Protecting the northern Environment
3-30
useful nutrients, and to toxicity resulting in the endangerment or
disappearance of species.
Other effects include potential hazards to human health, lost
recreational opportunities and lower aesthetic (and, therefore,
recreational) values. Economically, lost opportunities on one
hand lead to expensive corrective measures on the other.
Because of its land requirements and sorry environmental
record, the forest products industry must be monitored carefully
if future catastrophies are to be averted. Present legislative
controls can be applied, including the Environmental Protection
Act , the Environmental Assessment Act and the Ontario Water
Resources Act ; federal legislation in this field includes the
Fisheries Act . However, the administration and application of
these laws will have to be strengthened to ensure the citizens of
Ontario effective guarantees for the protection of their natural
heritage.
In addition to environmental damage associated with effluent
and with cutting practices, there are problems caused by the
pesticides and herbicides used in the ongoing war against weeds
and non-commercial tree species, as well as in attempts by the
forest industries and the Ministry of Natural Resources to prevent
infestation of commercial species by pests such as the budworm.
The three most common chemicals used in northern Ontario for
these purposes are Sevin, Matacil and the Phenoxy-herbicide 2,4 D;
all registered for use with Agriculture Canada under the Pest
Control Products Act . Though research on their effects was
conducted before each was registered, little can be said with
certainty about their long-term safety and cumulative or
synergistic effects. Continued budworm infestation and the
increasing use of forests north of 50 for commercial purposes,
have led to proposals for large-scale aerial spraying of
fenetrithion and matacil in conjunction with bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt).
Research has indicated that bacillus thuringiensis is a safe
insecticide for use against the spruce budworm in infested parts
of northern forests. For this reason, I applaud the recent
decision of the Ministry of Natural Resources to use Bt alone, and
not the chemical pesticides listed above, on approximately 215,000
hectares of northwestern and northeastern forests. Bt is, in the
words of the Minister of Natural Resources, the
"... inaeotioide which is the most aaaeptable from an
environmental standpoint" . in addition, I welcome the
treatment of 30,000 hectares by use of concentrated logging and
salvaging operations. Widespread and indiscriminate use of
chemical pesticides and insecticides must not be encouraged,
unless we are convinced that such chemical methods are the only
alternative.
MINES
Now I turn to the environmental consequences of mining, which
are not yet fully understood and which, therefore, must also be
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-31
subject to rigorous scrutiny in order to prevent environmental
damage.
The effluents produced in recovering valuable minerals from
ore contain a wide range of chemical properties and vary greatly
in toxicity. Many raining and milling operations involve the use
of reagents which modify the properties of minerals. Some of
these reagents do not break down easily when treated while others
are chemically volatile and either break down naturally in a
tailings area or can be broken down by chemical processes.
Controlling or containing stable chemicals is essential to the
protection of the environment. Some can be recovered and
recycled, others must be treated as toxic wastes.
In addition to the reagent chemicals, mining and milling also
produces pollutants which, if released, act upon the environment
in a manner similar to certain by-products of the pulp and paper
industry (e.g., sediment, dissolved metals, and acids). Despite
the similarities, the mining industry's use of controlled tailing
disposal areas (contained and controlled by dykes), aeration,
neutralization and sedimentation processes appears to have given
it better environmental control over effluents than has been
achieved by the forestry products industry.
Nonetheless, accidents do happen when toxic wastes are
discharged into the water. Some operators, such as the Griffith
Mine near Ear Falls, have constructed a system of discharge
control which removes sedimentation and dictates the release of
clarified water, as well as the installation of scrubbers in the
stacks.
Other environmental consequences of mining are controlled
through pre-operational planning: erosion, for example, is a
common problem, though easily avoided by seeding, since mines
involve relatively small areas of exposed soil.
The abandonment of mine and mill facilities can cause
long-term environmental harm unless orderly decommissioning of the
project is included in pre-operational development plans.
Abandoned and neglected tailing ponds can break down and discharge
toxic effluents into local waterways.
A further environmental impact resulting from a new
mine and mill project is the development of access roads and of
power transmission facilities needed to provide large quantities
of electric power.
The impact of powerline construction initially can involve
the interruption of wildlife habitats and migration routes.
Remote operations using fossil fuels, for which power must be
generated on-site, increases the likelihood of environmental
damage.
Private mining projects, of course, are not currently subject
to the provisions of the Environmental Assessment Act but, as I
have recommended, they should be assessed in the same way as all
other developments in the north.
Proteating the Northern Environment
3-32
ACID PRECIPITATION
Having examined the environmental impacts associated with the
resource industries of the north, I must comment on acid
precipitation, a serious pollutant being produced in — and
damaging to — most of the North American continent.
Because of the known effect on waterways, and international
research warning of the detrimental impact on forests and
wildlife, acid precipitation has become a potential problem for
the north. Ontario's Ministry of the Environment estimates that
the area north of 50 contains approximately 60,000 lakes of
significant size. Bodies of water on granite or quartzite
geological formations have very little neutralizing capability
compared to those based on limestone; some 20 per cent of the
north's lakes, those found atop the granite and quartzite-based
Precambrian Shield, are therefore especially vulnerable to
acidification.
Until recently, there was relatively little monitoring and
data collection on lakes and rivers north of 50; it does seem
likely that they are not in the same immediate danger as those
lying further south. The north's prevailing weather patterns,
from west and north, do not carry the acid originating in the
highly industrialized regions of Southern Canada and the
midwestem United States — the source of much of the problem.
Nonetheless, estimates based on random measurements conducted
in Precambrian Shield lakes north of 50 indicate that the majority
receive precipitation acidic enough to be lethal to certain types
of fish eggs, insect larvae and bacterial species and to alter the
normal spawning patterns of the flathead minnow. A further
increase of acidity, even a slight one, would be sufficient to
reduce the populations of trout species.
It appears a great deal of research into acid precipitation
and its effect on water bodies and fish has been accomplished. I
am concerned, however, that little qualitative, sophisticated
research has been done on its effects on forests and wildlife,
particularly in northern Ontario. While limited research on maple
dieback has been carried out, a larger-scale qualitative research
program is necessary at this time.
Obviously, industry must have raw materials, supplies, water
and energy power, and its functions cause waste materials,
contaminated water and air emissions. Man needs food, water, heat
and transportation; but his actions produce contaminated water
waste, garbage and vehicle exhaust pollutants. It should be noted
that motor vehicle exhaust accounts for more than half of all air
pollutants discharged in Ontario. In some areas, motor vehicles
contribute more than 85 per cent of the air pollution recorded in
urban streets, and therefore make a substantial contribution to
acid precipitation.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-33
3.33 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario become directly associated
with international research efforts and undertake increased
research into the effects of acid precipitation on the
forests, game, waterfowl and wildlife of northern Ontario
(particularly on all species believed to be affected by such
precipitation).
ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
The complex problems of monitoring and controlling pollution
are dealt with in Ontario under the Environmental Protection Act ,
the Ontario Water Resources Act and other related legislation and
regulations. Let us now turn to an examination of the
legislation, its application and related concerns expressed Co the
Commission.
Section 13(1) of the Environmental Protection Act states:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or the
regulations , no person shall deposit , add, emit or discharge a
contaminant or cause or permit the deposit, addition, emission or
discharge of a contaminant into the natural enuironment that,
1) causes or is likely to cause impairment of the quality
of the natural environment for any use that can he made
of it;
2) causes or is likely to cause injury or damage to
property or to plant or animal life;
3) causes or is likely to cause harm or material discomfort
to any person;
4) adversely affects or is likely to adversely affect the
health of any person;
5) impairs or is likely to impair the safety of any person;
or
6) renders or is likely to render any property or plant or
animal life unfit for use by man."
It
Section 14 of the Ontario Water Resources Act says that
the quality of water shall 5i deemed to Be impaired if,
notwithstanding that the quality of the water is not or may not
become impaired, the material deposited or discharged or caused or
permitted to be deposited or discharged or any derivative of such
material causes or may cause injury to any person, animal, bird or
other living thing as a result of the use or consumption of any
plant, fish or other living thing as a result of the use or
consumption of any plant, fish or other living matter or thing in
the water or in the soil in contact with the water."
Because no water quality regulations have been passed under
the EPA or OWRA, the general prohibitions described above provide
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-34
the legal basis for determining the need for control orders and
other abatement procedures. Prohibitions are guided by the
non-legislated provincial water quality objectives and guidelines
developed by the Ministry of the Environment as set out in Water
Management: Goals, Policies, Objectives and Implementation
Procedures (November, 1978) of the Ministry of the Environment.
(Specific guidelines also have been issued for the mining
industry.)
The document contains guidelines for drinking-water quality
standards, criteria for the discharge of toxic substances,
discharge or emission limits (generally expressed in terms of
loadings intended to achieve ambient quality objectives) and
specific technology requirements, as well as listings and
descriptions of controlled toxic substances.
There are indications that the Ministry of the Environment's
efforts and programs and its Water Resources Branch have
contributed to the general improvement of environmental quality in
Ontario. Moreover, because industry is usually willing to play by
the rules as long as it knows what they are, environmental
regulations have brought increased investment, productivity and
efficiency to Ontario industry.
Nonetheless, criticisms of the applicability and practicality
of the legislation come from both industry and environmental
groups. Industry's views can best be summarized as a desire to
reduce environmental restrictions in order to make northern
investment more attractive, especially because projects in the
north are expensive to develop. Furthermore, they would argue,
the north is distant from major population centres, is less
populated and, therefore, less likely to suffer environmental
catastrophes involving large numbers of people.
The financial cost of installing pollution abatement or
control measures in long established industries could, on
occasion, be substantial, to the point of requiring replacement of
the facility and therefore result in employee cutbacks and
financial pressures leading to company shutdowns. Furthermore,
additional costs which must be passed on to the consumer, could
further decrease the competitive edge of Ontario resources and
resource products in the international marketplace. These costs
require in-depth research and political consideration before final
decisions are made.
Certainly, pollution abatement or control measures can be
expensive, especially for industries which must modernize existing
processes. There is little doubt that consumers ultimately pay
for the improvements but some abatement technology or techniques
actually improve economic efficiency.
Despite the appearance of stringent control in the two Acts,
the system has pitfalls which environmental groups, in particular,
criticize as dampening to effective and successful use of the
legislation against polluters. One complaint is that there is an
economic incentive to pollute: in cases where the costs of
abatement or control are high, violators find that continued
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-35
polluting makes economic sense because it is less expensive to pay
fines than to comply with control orders.
3.34 Reconmendation:
That fines levied on offenders of environmental legislation
be Increased to a maximum level greater than or equal to the
costs of abatement, to the extent possible.
3.35 Recommendation:
That a large portion of the monies collected from environ-
mental prosecution and fines be allocated to the local area
impacted by the pollution, to be spent according to needs
determined by local residents.
3.36 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of the Environment increase Its environ-
mental detection and enforcement staff, some of whom should
specialize in the detecting and enforcement of particular
pollutants and should not be tied to regional offices.
From the time a control order under the Environmental
Protection Act is issued up to the final deadline for compliance,
the violator cannot be prosecuted further for the offence, thus
permitting him or her to continue polluting. Furthermore, the
deadline can be appealed, based on factors beyond the violator's
control (for example, a strike, delays in delivery or financial
hardship. )
It is difficult to charge polluters in cases where no single
source of pollution can be identified, making prosecution of
potentially dangerous multi-source pollution even more difficult
than that of single-source pollution.
There is a lack of funds to gather needed scientific data on
new or little-known substances, on long-term effects at low
levels, and on the cumulative and combined effects of contaminants
on the biological and geological characteristics of the north.
Inadequate information often results in an absence of regulatory
action because of uncertainty about the probable success of
prosecutions.
3.37 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario provide additional funding for
scientific research to improve on the Ontario Water
Management Objectives and allow for better documentation on
the environmental effects of new and little known
substances.
3.38 Recommendation:
That the Water Management Objectives be enacted as
regulations and enable prosecution for violation of the
regulations.
Proteoting the Northern Environment
3-36
3.39 Reconunendatlon:
That more funding be committed toward expansion of knowledge
and expertise in the field of abatement technology.
In most cases of existing pollution, determining the need for
abatement and setting deadlines for compliance are negotiated,
case by case, between the Ministry of the Environment and the
violator. This approach, which relies on subjective interpreta-
tion of the water management objectives, often results in abate-
ment requirements with greater discharge limits than those set out
in the objectives.
Neither the Environmental Protection Act nor the Ontario
Water Resources Act allow for formal public input into the
decision-making process. Furthermore, public and industry
representation is limited in determining or amending the Water
Management Objectives. Here, as recommended in relation to the
Environmental Assessment Act , increased public accountability and
a more democratic decision-making process would significantly
improve the implementation of enforcement measures.
3.40 Recommendation:
That public and industry input into the decision-making
process be Increased in the EPA and OWRA especially at the
stages of establishing environmental protection regulations,
(e.g., standard-setting) and developing project-specific
abatement requirements (e.g., control order process).
COMPENSATION
It is often difficult to place a dollar value on the damage
done to those who suffer as a result of pollution, to compensate
them adequately for loss of life, health or economic
opportunities. In addition, adequate compensation measures are
not always provided for in a control order or conviction. The
best example of how the system failed in this regard is Reed
Paper's contamination of the Wabigoon/Engllsh/Winnipeg river
system. To date, full compensation has not been paid by industry,
though 15 years have passed since the issue arose. The provincial
or federal Governments have been slow to resolve the situation:
responsibility for Indians rests with the federal Government,
while the prosecution of polluters is under provincial
jurisdiction. The fact remains that the people affected are
Ontarians.
3.41 Recommendation:
That, to assure the payment of compensation in cases where
environmental damage results in loss of health or
socioeconomic opportunities for local residents, it is
recommended that :
1) clear jurisdictional responsibilities be established
between the federal and provincial Governments regarding
Indian claimants;
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-37
2) funds be made available to those members of the public
requiring financial assistance where legal action is
required to obtain or recover compensation payments due
as a result of environmental damage;
3) the provincial and federal Governments confer on
quantitative and qualitative methods for determining the
financial equivalent of damage caused to the physical,
social and economic environment as a result of
violations of environmental legislation and regulation;
4) enforceable regulations be established to determine the
time frame in which a violator is obligated to pay the
compensation in full.
These recommendations would, I hope, assist in the fair
enforcement and regulation of industry and government. Though the
goal of the EPA and OWRA is protection of the environment, legal
fees and other costs sustained by industry and government in the
process of prosecution divert financial resources from pollution
prevention. Because of the adversarial nature of the regulatory
process, development proponents are motivated to challenge the
system and to obey the minimum letter of the law rather than its
overall intention. Moreover, we must be aware that the
Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act
apply only when harm has already occurred.
I believe that the Environmental Assessment Act is ideally
suited to meet some of these objections and to be used as a
preventive control, if it were applied to all proposed projects or
developments with potentially significant environmental impacts.
As a planning device, the EAA requires proponents to submit
designs of proposed projects or expansions and to include in the
environment assessment document their provisions for the
prevention or mitigation of effluent discharges. Mitigating
measures include installation of pollution-abatement equipment,
alteration of production processes or location of the project In a
less environmentally-sensitive area.
As I have recommended (3.27), if it is to fulfill its
potential for improving Ontario's environment, the Environmental
Assessment Act must apply to private-sector undertakings. I am
convinced that legislation is more effective when it is
universally applied. It is better, as well, to have laws which
prevent damage rather than apply penalties on the basis of what
has already occurred. However, I remain sensitive to the reality
of additional administrative costs to be borne by government and
the sometimes needless delays which would be suffered by industry
and public agencies if the EAA were applied to any development;
therefore, the Commission has considered alternative mechanisms.
First, proponents must make maximum use of the financial
incentives already available for compensation of costs incurred in
installing pollution control technology; recently, the federal
Government offered two such programs. The Accelerated Capital
Cost Allowance Program, administered by Environment Canada,
permits an eligible firm to write off, for income tax purposes.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-38
the total equipment or installation costs of processes primarily
intended to control air or water pollution. (Allowable
expenditures include the cost of prevention, reduction or
elimination of pollution.)
The second is the Development and Demonstration Resource and
Energy Conservation Technology Program, also under Environment
Canada, which covers as much as half the total estimated cost of
an approved project designed to recover or recycle wastes.
I readily support these, or similar, programs.
There are other avenues which should be explored as
potentially useful models for improving pollution control outside
the regulatory process. For example, the use of contracts between
government and proponents is emerging to cover mutually acceptable
terms and conditions for industrial projects where pollution and
control of it are key to the project's economic viability. 1 have
already discussed the use of contracts for development purposes in
Chapter 2.
The flexibility inherent in a negotiated agreement allows for
terms suitable to parties, including terms for remedying a breach
of contract (usually by way of damages and compensation). Another
term could require the developer to post a bond to guarantee
partial or full compensation in the event a breach occurs. It
also might be possible to include a clause which prohibits the
discharge of pollutants (similar to a stop order), or lower the
level of allowable discharge.
Advantages to government in this type of contract are clear.
Not only does it reduce the problems inherent in the adversarial
approach, it also encourages compliance and cuts administrative
and legal costs. Advantages to industry are equally clear.
Lengthy and often costly delays which prevent development are
averted by avoiding a needlessly long approval process.
Furthermore, prosecution is less likely when the document is the
result of negotiation.
Throughout such a process, the two participants must be aware
of the presence of a third party with a legitimate interest: the
public. In order to ensure their rights, contractual terms have
to accommodate public involvement through a pre-approval process,
and such terms must be part of any enabling legislation in regard
to contracts of this type. It would also be necessary to provide
a method by which a contract could be rescinded if it were
determined that public objections to its terms were valid.
While I cannot conceive that the contractual process would be
practicable on all projects, particularly those with potentially
wide-ranging and severe environmental implications, the contract
approach might initially be applied to projects of a minor nature
which are nonetheless subject to the Environmental Assessment Act.
Successful negotiation of such a contract could lead to exemption
from environmental assessment.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3-39
It might be possible to build a contract model into the
existing Ontario Water Resources Act and the Environmental
Protection Act instead of negotiating terms of a control order
with a violator. In other words, at least as a start, the
identification of a pollution violation could be the beginning of
contract negotiations; it could be more productive to enter into
such negotiations and to continue them as a form of compliance,
rather than operate from an adversarial position.
Much work remains to be done in formulating a contract
agreement system appropriate for environmental protection
purposes. Models proposed in other jurisdictions indicate they
could be useful in Ontario. Certainly, any concept which holds
the possibility of benefits for industry, government and the
public while, at the same time, improving environmental
protection, deserves careful consideration.
The three resources — trees, water, minerals — and the
industries they have spawned — forest products and mining — are
all necessary components of the economy and the social fabric of
Ontario. The three laws — The Environmental Assessment Act , the
Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act
have been established and used in order to protect the
resources, the industries and, most importantly, the people of
this province.
As I have made clear, I find them, in the main, to be well
considered and carefully drafted laws. They suffer — and will
suffer more and more in the future — from the inevitable passage
of time, the acquisition of new information and the emergence of
changing attitudes. All three laws require streamlining, whether
through alteration of specific provisions, or through the design
and passage of other pieces of legislation. It is in precisely
this context that I offer the recommendations which flow from this
portion of my report.
Protecting the Northern Environment
CHAPTER 4
THE INDIAN PEOPLE IN THE NORTH OF ONTARIO
Following the approach taken in Canada's Constitution, the
term "Indian" is used in this report to refer to status and non-
status Indians as well as Metis. I also want to state clearly
that all recommendations dealing with Indians and their communi-
ties apply to all three groups.
The concept of "status" resulted when treaties specified
those entitled to benefits. Later evolution under the Indian Act
tightened and restricted status to band membership and descent
from a status male. Native people whose ancestors for one reason
or another were not included in the treaties became "non-status"
Indians. Lack of special status also plagues the Metis people who
are of Indian heritage but who, by their own admission, are not
full-blooded Indians.
While a person may be denied status under the terms of the
Indian Act, if he or she possesses sufficient racial and cultural
characteristics to be termed a "native person", he or she will be
considered an Indian within the meaning of the British North
America Act. This means the person - like status Indian - would
be within the legislative jurisdiction of the federal Government.
It is important to stress that it appears that native rights are
derived, and should be derived, from one's racial and cultural
origins, not solely from the provisions of the Indian Act . Thus,
for the purposes of this report, all three groups are treated as
equal recipients of the recommendations made.
People are the greatest resource of any nation and, in the
area north of 50, the majority of the population are Indians — a
people with their own distinct culture, outlook, abilities and
needs.
I count myself among those relatively few "white men" who
have had on-going contact with the native people throughout my
lifetime. For this reason, I feel justified in emphasizing the
care and attention required in order to grasp the subtleties of
their unique and gentle culture.
In 1934-35, travelling into the northern homeland of
Ontario's native people, I visited reserves and settlements in
Pikangikum, Sandy Lake, Osnaburgh, Big Trout, Sachigo and as far
north as Sutton Lake below the shoreline of Hudson Bay. I was
memorably struck by the character of these people: friendly,
honest, independent, proud, modest, impassioned, self-sufficient
and religious. On meeting their chiefs and elders one sensed a
mannerly aristocracy of wisdom, poise, compassion and pride.
In contrast to the contented and self-sufficient people I
observed during my first forays into native settlements some 50
years ago, my most recent visits to their communities have shown
me the deterioration in their lifestyle and the stark realities of
their present day existence. Most Indians in the north now live
in bitter confusion over the existing autocracy which has
determined their present and continues to govern their future.
Indian People of the North
4-2
The people reflect on their historic self-sufficiency and
independence since time immemorial and abhor present conditions
under government's full control. They feel injured. They resent
suggestions they are living off the Canadian taxpayer without
contributing their share to society. They are affronted by the
measures of hypocritical charity, welfare and pity directed to
them. As noted elsewhere in this report, the income of Indian
families still lags dramatically behind that of non-natives. It
is not humanitarian to think unearned favors replace the reward of
and the right to gainful employment. I find Ontario's northerners
resolved to surmount oppression and prejudice, and determined to
regain the spirit of self-sufficiency, self-respect and human
dignity which still flows in their veins.
If we are to understand our native people as they are today,
along with their aims for the future, we must look at the past
that shaped them. While their culture appears foreign to those of
us who are the product of another world, in fact, it is a culture
based in practicality — the need for all people to eat, to learn,
to contribute and to utilize their own unique skills. Once
examined, Indian culture appears not as an outmoded way of life
but perhaps as a philosophy which in large part should be emulated
and perpetuated.
I find the traditional culture and history of the original
people of Ontario north of 50 comparable to a great composition of
music. I believe no one can express an opinion or interpret the
beauty, the spirit or identifying character of it all without
fully understanding how it was composed. The search for such an
understanding has been my own greatest challenge as Commissioner.
I was cautioned on my first Commission trip through the north
by a cultured, educated and thinking man of native birth to move
slowly toward an understanding of the lifeways, customs and
culture of northern people — particularly those of Ontario's
original inhabitants. Repeatedly I was reminded I must grasp the
meaning of the land and of being "people of nature" whose learning
and wisdom expanded and developed by wholly existing with the land
and its bounty.
In the presentation of Indian history and culture that
follows, I offer you the same caution — take the time to grasp
the lifeways, attitudes and perceptions of our original people.
It is my hope that, within each reader, a new awareness and
understanding will be created regarding the current frustrations
which now plague these proud and once independent people.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
(The reader is referred to "People North of 50°: In Quest of
Understanding " for a more detailed account of native culture and
history. )
In many ways the northern portion of Ontario is a harsh and
often inhospitable environment. Yet native North Americans have
survived in that environment for approximately 8,000 years. The
Indian Psofjl^ </ f-he 'hDPth
4-3
environment determined their basic patterns of existence and
shaped their material and non-material culture - their values,
attitudes, customs and beliefs. They survived by adapting
themselves to the environment and obeying its laws.
With a few seasonal exceptions, the resources necessary to
sustain human existence are sparse and widely scattered in the
boreal forest - only an estimated 10 per cent of the entire
landscape produces food resources for humans. The resource base
thus precluded a large, sedentary population and the people of the
boreal forest lived in small nomadic family bands. Studies have
indicated that approximately 57 square kilometres were required to
sustain one person. Throughout the course of a year, a band might
wander throughout an area spanning almost 2,600 square kilometres.
In the spring, after break-up, the bands moved from their
wintering areas toward larger lakes which were the focal point for
the activities of a number of bands during the early part of the
summer. But by August, this relative "concentration" of
population would begin to disperse in order that each band could
reach its wintering territory before freeze-up.
Winter severely tested the survival skills and abilities of
band members. Many are the winters documented in trading post
journals when the best hunters failed in their pursuit ... or
failed to return; on occasion, entire bands disappeared. It is no
wonder a person's age was calculated in terras of the number of
winters they had survived. Occupying almost all of their time,
survival provided the central meaning, purpose, motivation and
goals of life as well as the criterion by which decisions were
made and the standard by which all things were judged.
This point is made by J. Carver in his publication, Travels
Through the Interior Parts of North America in the Years 1766, 67
and 68 : "They show . . . indifference for the production of
art. When any of these are shown them, they say, "It is pretty, I
like to look at it," but are not inquisitive about the
construction of it, neither can they form proper conceptions of
its use. But if you tell them of a person who is able to run with
great agility, that is well skilled in hunting, can direct with
unerring aim a gun, or bend with ease a bow, that can dextrously
work a canoe, understands the art of war, is acquainted with the
situation of a country, and can make his way without a guide,
through an immense forest, subsisting during this on a small
quantity of provisions, they are in raptures; they listen with
great attention . . . and bestow the highest commendations on the
hero of it."
A band was composed of 20 to 30 individuals who formed an
extended family related through the male line and was a
tightly-knit, autonomous and self-sufficient social and economic
unit. Individual survival depended on the band and the band's
survival depended on the skills and contribution of each and every
member. The individual and the band were of equal importance
since neither could survive without the other.
Indian People of the North
4-4
While the white man continued through centuries of struggle
as various segments fought for a sense of equality, the Indian
population continued on as ever — as a race of true equals. Just
as they believed that land and air and the substance of life are
to be lived with by all and owned by none, they also recognized
that there are many points of view, each unique and all relevant.
Consensus, not government or externally imposed rules, was
the guiding force. No one could be forced to help or participate;
no compulsory laws placed them under any restrictions. As J.
Carver noted in his travels during the 1760 's: "... If
violenoe is committed^ or blood is shed, the right of avenging
these misdemeanours are left to the family of the injured; the
chief assumes neither the power of inflicting or moderating the
punishment. Each family has a right to appoint one of its chiefs
to be an assistant to the principal chief ... (and to watch) over
the interest of ... (the family), and without whose consent
nothing of a public nature can be carried into execution ..."
Issues of common interest were discussed by all band members.
Seated in a circle, hours — sometimes days — were spent as each
member presented a point of view. An elder would then articulate
what had been put forward with the result that each person, having
heard the same logic and conclusions, went forth governed by the
same conclusions arrived at by the same accumulation of
experience. Control of the group was maintained through the
self-control of each individual who was autonomous.
This philosophy of balance governed all aspects of their
lives. Just as one didn't abuse nature by taking more resources
than was necessary, one gave and received of nature's bounty
equally. Those who were less proficient in gathering had a right
to expect a share of the successful hunter's catch.
Just as custom and common philosophy were strong, unifying
bonds, the existence of the band provided its members with the
only firm emotional and intellectual relationships. Only fellow
band members could be trusted because they were the only people
the individual thoroughly knew and, because of the importance
placed on personal knowledge, there would always be a latent
distrust of all other people.
This concern for one another — which I have always admired
— was part of native culture from the beginning. When a man
died, the welfare of the widow and children became the
responsibility of one of his brothers since the children were of
the same clan. And, certainly, the deep respect shown their
elders is, I believe, a legendary and well-known facet of the
Indian culture. An elder was respected because he or she had
demonstrated the merit of their skills and knowledge by their
length of survival; and, in a more emotional sense, grandparents
in the boreal forest had a special family role. With the parents
and older children often away from camp, grandparents became the
central figures in the lives of young children. They were the
ones who had the time to make toys, tell stories and begin showing
the small child how to do things. Because of this early training
Indian People of the North
4-5
from grandparents, generations were tightly interlocked as was the
transmission of culture.
The Indian's main tool for survival — attentiveness — was
developed from birth. The "tikinagan" or cradleboard is an
ingenious device for carrying an infant while keeping one's hands
free and keeping him or her secure and in view while one is fully
occupied doing something else. It may be leaned securely between
a rib and thwart of a canoe, against a tree or hung from a limb.
In all cases, the child is in a vertical position as are all other
humans and can be present at all activities. A child spent an
estimated six hours a day in a tikinagan until he or she was about
two years old. Laced firmly into a pouch with or without the
board, the child learned stillness, concentration — and to
sharpen his hearing and eyesight. Thus began a prodigious keen
store of personal experience or knowledge (i.e. memory) and the
habit of attentiveness, which would become his or her main tool
for survival.
This was well recognized by J. Carver in 1768, when he
wrote: "The Indians discover an amazing sagacity, and acquire
with the greatest readiness, anything that depends upon the
attention of mind. By experience and acute observation, they
attain many perfections to which Europeans are strangers. They
are indebted for these talents, not only to nature, but to any
extraordinary command of the intellectual faculties, which can
only be acquired by an unremitted attention, and by long
experience."
Ontario's original northerners are a people whose
relationship with the land began when they were created from it,
forming a connection of mystical and practical meaning that
embodies their attitudes and viewpoint of life. Their knowledge
and instincts reflect the perfected patterns on how to survive 365
days of the year by foraging and originate through a most
demanding, applied learning process with the tenent of being
attentive to all and everything that occurs or moves about you.
THE FUR TRADE: CA. 1600 to 1867
It is not surprising that reactions of distrust, puzzlement,
and fear arose on both sides as the whiteman from the south took
his first hesitant steps into the Indian world north of 50. The
clash of cultures appears inevitable when one compares the
precepts upon which both cultures arose and functioned:
1) A belief in living harmoniously with nature has
determined much of the Indian lifestyle and
subsistence pursuits, while Euro-Canadians have
based their survival, in large part, on harnessing
and dominating the forces of nature.
2) As a nomadic people who have survived through the
proficiency of their gathering skills and the
availability of nature's bounty, Indians are
accustomed to accepting life as it comes each day.
Indian People of the North
4-6
whereas Euro-Canadians tend to think in terms of
building and investing for the future.
3) Where life in a band demands co-operation and group
achievement on the part of Indians, Euro-Canadians
instill a sense of competitiveness and individual
success in their culture.
4) Believing that nature is shared by all and owned by
none, Indians tend to think, in terras of stewardship
of land, whereas Euro-Canadian culture works on the
basis of ownership of land.
5) Indian people tend to value anonymity and submis-
siveness while Euro-Canadian culture encourages
individuality and aggressiveness.
And yet, through both cultures' practice and need of trade
arrangements, Indian and white people began business dealings
which, in the end, precipitated the demise of the Indian culture
via its submersion in the ever-changing and ever-expanding white
The first European explorers and traders actually stepped
into and participated in a well-established system of exchange
which criss-crossed the entire North American continent. A vast
network of trade in commodities and hand-manufactured items had
already been established by the Indians.
Fur trade history generally fails to take into account that
while the Indians eagerly participated in the white man's system,
they continued to carry on trade among themselves. White traders
and goods merely expanded the type and quantity of products
available. What the establishment of permanent posts did do
however, was to offer a source of food which could be fallen back
on in winter and also introduced a new element into the trade —
the exchange of labor for the white man's goods. Indians acted as
guides, performed agricultural work, supplied food, clothing and
equipment to personnel at posts, and acted as runners in winter to
bring in furs.
In spite of the changes in native material culture brought
about by their adoption of the white man's goods, the fur trade
did not have near the impact on boreal lifeways as is generally
supposed. Until well into the present century, people lived in
the same way they always had, selecting from the manufactured
goods available only those of use for survival. A nomadic
existence did not permit the accumulation of non-utilitarian
goods.
Of far greater importance to the Indian people than the
effects of white material culture were the social disruptions,
cultural discontinuities and geographical dislocations caused by:
the disastrous effects of European diseases spread via the trade
routes, carried by natives and whites alike; warfare between
whites and natives, natives and natives, (e.g., incursions by the
Sioux into the area north of 50), the French and English;
Indian People of the North
4-7
expanding populations of white settlers; and liquor, the presence
of which lasted until at least the latter half of the 1800 's and
the consumption of which almost always erupted in violence (the
main reason trading posts were palisaded and fortified).
Uncertainty, confusion and personal depression led some to
seek out liquor as a means of coping and, therefore, surviving.
Given their lives' pattern of feast or famine, the extremely rigid
internal control demanded of Indians, and a system of logic which
blamed alcohol, not people, for behavior while drunk, the white
man's medicine - liquor - became the most prized item offered by
traders. Liquor also "solved" the problem of the natives' shyness
in dealing with new white traders and strange Indians.
At least by the late 1700 's, many of those in the fur trade
saw the disastrous effects of liquor. Alexander Henry noted in
1803: ". . . the Indians totally ne.jleat their anjient
customs; and to what oan this degeneracy be ascribed but to their
intercourse with us . . .? What a different set of people they
would be, were there not a drop of liquor in the country! . . .
We may truly say that liquor is the root of evil in the North
West."
But it was not until the raid-1800's, as Douglas MacKay in The
Honourable Company noted, that: "Gradually and firmly the use
"of spirits was atminished . . . The insistence of the London
Committee, the tireless agitation from the Church of England
Missionary Society, and the questioning , if unspecified , view of
the Colonial office were the principle forces in the final
suppression. By 1860 spirits were no longer given to Indians
I want to emphasize at this point that Indian communities
themselves have imposed rigid restrictions on alcohol use. In
fact, most reserves are now "dry" areas where the people will not
allow any alcohol to be brought in.
In my view, it is indeed unfortunate - and most certainly
incorrect - for people to continue to put forward the image of the
"drunken Indian." It is true that northern towns have witnessed
the so-called drunken Indian in their midst but certainly they are
not the only culture involved in public inebriation. One can only
speculate on the reasons why any person goes through life in a
constant state of inebriation. As 1 point out elsewhere in this
paper, it takes an emotionally strong and secure Indian to succeed
amidst the strangeness and prejudice of the white man's world. I
have little doubt that a tally could be produced of Indians who,
lacking education or job skills, have been unsuccessful in finding
employment and therefore find it doubly difficult to make the
transition from the reserve to the white man's society — and, as
a result, have turned to alcohol.
However, these Indians are certainly not representative of
the Indian population and most certainly do not reflect the
standard of behavior and sobriety required in most reserves north
of 50.
Indian People of the North
4-8
POST-CONFEDERATION: 1867 to 1945
As early as 1784, agreements between colonial leaders and
Indians in Southern Ontario took place based on the principles of
fairness and equity in white-Indian relations as perceived at the
time.
Canadian Confederation was brought about by the promise of a
transcontinental railway — planning for which began mid-way
through the last century — and raised the question of title to
the Indian land in the north and west.
The first treaty in northern Ontario was the Robinson-
Superior Treaty of 1850. Robinson was the provincial Commissioner
assigned to extinguish Indian title in the Lake Superior and Lake
Huron area. Between 1871 and 1923, 11 further treaties were
signed with the Indians, for areas encompassing almost all of
northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and parts of
British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
In northern Ontario, Treaty #3 was signed in 1873 by Ojibway
and government representatives, and covered approximately 142,442
square kilometres of northwestern Ontario. Treaty #5 covered
approximately 38,848 square kilometres in Ontario but was mainly
directed to the larger area of Manitoba. However, a number of
native communities north of 50 (Deer Lake, Pikangikum, and Poplar
Hill, for example) are listed within the Treaty #5 area. Other
communities such as Sandy Lake, while subject to Treaty #5, are
for all practical purposes under the administration of Treaty #9.
Treaty #9, the major treaty within the Commission's area of
concern, was signed in 1905 and 1906 by Ojibway and Cree people
with not only a representative of Canada but also, unlike Treaties
#3, and #5, a representative of Ontario. Further adhesions were
signed in 1929-1930. The Treaty covers approximately 565,415
square kilometres which is most of Ontario north of 50.
Treaty-making followed a standard pattern: after boundaries
of the territory to be ceded had been determined by Government,
all Indians resident in the area were invited to enter into a
treaty. Upon its signing, and in exchange for the extinguishment
of Indian claims to the ceded land, a cash settlement was paid to
each individual - $12.00 per person under Treaty #3, $5.00 per
person under Treaty #5, and $8.00 per person under Treaty #9. In
addition, an annual cash annuity ($4 in Treaty #9) was to be paid
in perpetuity to each member of a band and their descendants.
Reserves of land also were created for each band signing the
treaties. Under Treaties #3 and #9, 2.6 square kilometres was
allowed for each family of five; under Treaty //5 it was 64.8
hectares per family of five. In all treaties, the Government
reserved the right to remove any settlers on reserve lands in
order to protect the reserves from white encroachments. However,
Government also retained the right of appropriation of reserve
lands if they were required for public purposes, with compensation
required to be paid. A band could not unilaterally dispose of the
Indian People of the North
4-9
lands, but with the consent of the band, reserve lands could be
sold or leased by the Government.
A most important provision in the treaties was the explicit
guarantee of freedom to pursue their traditional livelihoods
subject to future regulations and settlement in the non-reserve
areas of the surrendered lands (now a contentious and difficult
issue). It is not my role to suggest specific interpretations or
clarification of treaty provisions and therefore I have attempted
not to do so directly. However, native people still pursue
foraging activities on these lands and, in general, fear further
encroachment on these areas. They are concerned that the spirit
of the treaties, their understanding of the treaties, has been and
is being broken. It is to this that I address my concerns. I
have dealt with this issue separately and made a number of
recommendations.
The Commission heard a great deal of discussion about the
conflicting interpretations or meanings of these treaties. On the
whole, it appears that the making of treaties was taken seriously
by all sides. However, linguistic and cultural difference
prohibited mutual understanding. The native people seemed to
think they were signing a peace treaty agreeing to the shared use
of the land between Indians and white people. The Government, on
the other hand, looked upon the treaties as legal instruments
whereby ownership of the land was transferred from the Indians to
the Crown in exchange for certain monetary and other
considerations. The concept of land as a commodity which could
be bought and sold was a totally alien, incomprehensible and
linguistically inexpressible concept to native people.
This differing view of the land and man's relationship to the
environment was the fundamental misunderstanding. But the
Treaties also created even further misunderstandings in which may
be found the roots of many of the conflicts and problems between
the two cultures today.
Treaty Effects
Treaty Bands were created which bore no relationship to the
socio-political realities of the small family bands which gathered
at specified locations to enter into the Treaty. For example, the
bands which gathered at the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Hope post
for the purpose of signing Treaty #9 were those who traditionally
gathered at Eabaraet Lake in the summer as well as those who
gathered at Attawapiskat and Winisk Lakes. Since the signing of
the Treaty, all these bands have been known and dealt with as a
single unit. However, in reality, these three separate groups of
family bands had little, if anything, to do with one another and
after the signing of the treaty, the Attawapiskat and Winisk
groups returned to their own traditional territories where they
still reside today - although technically they are squatters on
Crown land, having no reserves of their own while the people of
Fort Hope have a far larger reserve than warranted by the number
of Eabaraet Lake families in 1906.
Indian People of the North
4-10
Similarly, the treaties are at the root of today's problems
arising from "status" Indians, "non-status" Indians and Metis.
"Status" Indians originally were those whose male ancestors
happened to have heard of the treaty, agreed with its terms and
were able to participate in its signing. Today, the incongruity
of the situation is brought home in an area such as Moose Factory
where the Metis population lives in the traditional native way but
is restricted to land outside the reserve and refused the
financial assistance given status Indians living just metres
away.
Contrary to the traditional autonomy of the individual and
the role of consensus in decision-making, the treaties established
elected chiefs and councils for each Treaty Band. Both the method
of selection and the structure of local government created
contributed in large measure to the disunity and disfunctioning of
the native communities which began after World War II.
Education
Each treaty contained some provision for native education, as
deemed "advisable" by the federal Government; and when the
Indians of a reserve "shall desire it". Until the
post-World War II period, residential schools — generally located
far from Indian communities, run by the churches and financed by
government grants — formed the mainstay of Indian education. In
the 1930 's, the advent of airplanes made it possible to transport
northern children to residential schools and parents were
subjected to all the persuasion the missionaries could muster to
send their children.
Residential schools were creatures of their time, sure of the
superiority of the white culture's values. Indian children were
to be removed from their families for their own good to learn the
values of the Christian religion, hard work and competition. The
use of native languages was forbidden and infractions of the rule
met with punishment. Traditional Indian appearance was not
condoned: hair and clothing had to reflect the current white
fashions. The curriculum centred on the English language, writing
and arithmetic. Vocational skills taught were those of the
farmer, the domestic or the low-status industrial worker — not
those needed for life in the bush or for participation in the
higher levels of the white economy. The people who operated these
schools were doing their duty as they saw it by elevating children
of a deprived and "uncivilized" race closer to their own ideals.
In essence, what they were actually doing was removing children
from one viable culture, teaching and impressing by continuous
repetition the precepts of another and, in the end, ensuring that
many of their students fit into neither.
One of the elders in the James Bay region recounted his
experiences in residential school, and with a look of bemusement
said: "You know. Commissioner , it was there I was taught to
lie! You see," he said, "I entered the school at the age of
nine, and when the term was over I was looking forward to seeing
my mother, but first I had to make a promise that I would not
speak in my native language while I was away. My mother oould not
Indian People of the North
A-11
speak English, and, being in a religious school that taught you
cannot lie, I decided I had to stay because I could not fulfill
the promise demanded of me. In fact, I stayed two more years
without going home. My friends confused me then with the
teachings - honour thy mother and thy father, and assured me that,
if my parents could not speak English, surely God would not punish
me if I broke my school promise and spoke to them in their
language. So assured, I promised I would not speak Cree and went
home for the summer, knowing I had lied."
The way in which the federal Government carried out its
responsibility removed control of education from the parents and
bands, removed control of the children, indeed removed the
children themselves. With the new generation gone from the
community for much of the year, transmission of cultural
practices, life skills and language was sharply disrupted.
The family band had existed as an autonomous and tightly-knit
social, cultural and economic unit wherein each individual took
his or her adult place after a lengthy apprenticeship which began
at birth. Sending children away to residential schools began to
unravel the social, cultural and economic threads of the people's
lives. The band was deprived of part of the manpower it needed
for survival, and the "apprenticeships" which ensured its future
survival were interrupted. Off at school, children did not learn
what they needed to know in order to survive in their home
environment and what they did learn was of little use in dealing
with the reality of life on the reserves.
POST-WORLD WAR II: 1945 TO THE PRESENT
For Ontario's northern native people, the post-war period has
been characterized by: increasing incursions northward by the
white population of the south; increasing interference in and
control of their lives by the federal Government; subsequent
increased dealings with white Government officials; and an
increasing rate of social, cultural and environmental change.
The basis of fundamental change came in July, 1945, when the
federal Government initiated Family Allowance payments contingent
upon school attendance. The monthly cheque, of course, enhanced
survival, but the incentive to send even younger children off to
school for most of the year decreased the social, cultural and
economic integrity of the family band.
The death blow to traditional lifeways came in the 1950 's
when elementary schools were established on the reserves. While
children no longer had to be separated from their parents,
families were forced to stay in one place to care for their
offspring. This spelled the end of the traditional economy which
depended on mobility. The family band was forced to settle down
for most of the year near the school which almost immediately gave
rise to the necessity for federally-provided food rations. This
concentration of population was intensified in the 1960's with the
commencement of planned communities — band-administered,
subsidized housing centred on larger, more modern schools and
healthcare stations.
Tndian People of the North
4-12
The first day-school graduates had been sent out to
residential secondary schools but throughout the 1960 's this
practice was phased out and secondary school pupils were sent to
regular high schools in the north where they boarded with white
families. By the end of the decade, their exposure to the values
and ways of the "hippy" subculture outside was manifesting itself
on the reserves in the form of drugs, alcohol, glue and gas
sniffing, vandalism and a rejection of parental mores.
They were also caught up in the social activism of the 1960s,
one focal point of which was native North Americans. They learned
to exploit their Indian-ness and to demand their "aboriginal
rights" - though hard-pressed to define precisely of what those
rights consisted. Ironically, their own values were almost
totally white: money, pleasure, ease and all the modern material
conveniences. Although they frequently bemoaned the passing of
native culture, they had never actually experienced traditional
lifeways, knew little about them, lacked patience with and respect
for their own elders and their values, beliefs and ways.
By 1970, then, three distinct sub-cultures had emerged in the
northern communities by virtue of the change that schools made in
the enculturation process:
1) The Traditional Generation: Born prior to 1930,
they were raised in the traditional way,
experiencing no white schooling and speaking no
English. In spite of their lack of formal
education, they are much more aware of what is going
on than anyone supposes. They have no problems
managing money, they know how to work . . . and they
are the only genuine Indians left today.
2) The Transitional Generation: Born between 1930 and
1950, they received part of their enculturation in
traditional ways and part via the residential
schools. They speak both languages and have the
knowledge and skills to be able to function in both
native and white worlds. Their values are those of
their elders and they are a stabilizing force within
the communities.
3) The Troubled Generation: Born between 1950 and
1965, these natives went to reserve day schools and
have known no life outside the reserve. A paper
done for this commission tagged this group as
"Whindians" because culturally they are neither
white nor Indian but a bastardization of both,
fitting into neither world. Among the Whindians one
finds the highest percentage of unemployment,
alcoholism, marriage breakdown and child neglect.
The consequent social disruptions were exacerbated by:
1) the physical compacting in planned communities of people
who formerly had dwelt in family bands which "kept their
distance" from one another and who therefore did not
Indian People of the North
4-13
have the social and cultural mechanism for dealing with
life in a dense concentration of population;
2) the spatial fragmentation of the extended family within
the planned communities;
3) the lack of anything to do in a sedentary situation and
the impossibility of pursuing the traditional livelihood
because of being tied to one spot;
4) the consequences of the Treaties' elected Chiefs and
Councils upon people accustomed to governing themselves
by families and through consensus problems which now
emerged as dealings with government increased;
5) the concomittant shift of leadership from the elders to
the educated young which came about because of the
increased dealings with government.
The Indian Act set confirms the overwhelming powers of the
federal government over Indian reserves: "Subject to this Act ,
reserves are held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the
respective bands for which they were set apart; and subject to
this Act and to the terms of any treaty or surrender , the Governor
in Council may determine whether any purpose for which lands in a
reserve are used or are to be used is for the use and benefit of
the band."
Examples of these sweeping powers include the setting aside
of Indian burial grounds, schools, health centres and any other
projects determined to be in the interest and welfare of the band;
the construction of roads, authorization of surveys, or
subdivision into lots; the maintenance of roads, bridges,
ditches, and fences and the cultivation or improvements of lands.
Band funds will be used for these purposes if so ordered.
Bands, on the other hand, are empowered to pass by-laws which
deal mainly with local issues such as: health, traffic, conduct
and nuisance regulations; the appointment and duties of pound
keepers; building and repair regulations; the allotment of reserve
land to band members; trespass regulations; and the regulation of
bee-keeping, poultry raising and public sports events.
Although a general broadening of band powers under this
section has evolved in recent years, the extent to which the band
can control its own matters on the reserve is limited. Bands have
little control over education, band membership or management of
band finances. It is this state of affairs that has led to
increased demands for Indian self-government.
One interesting provision of the Indian Act Is section 83,
where, if in the opinion of the federal Cabinet, a particular band
has reached "an advanced stage of development" , the band
council may make certain money by-laws with the approval of the
Minister of Indian Affairs. This would effectively give control
over the fiscal affairs of the band to the band council. In
Indian People of the North
4-14
reality, however, there is only one band (in Saskatchewan) which
presently exercises these additional powers.
It is readily evident that a band council's powers are
considerably limited under the Indian Act « They have no say in
many matters of importance such as education, and in areas where
they are granted certain powers, the Governor-in-Council may
step in with its own overriding regulations. As well, the
Minister can disallow any by-law that is passed.
However, the exclusive authority under section 91(24) of the
British North American Act makes it difficult for me to
contemplate any remedy beyond a general recommendation to the
Ontario Government for forwarding to its federal counterpart.
4.1 Recommendation
That the Government of Ontario recommend to the federal
Government that the Indian Act be amended to give full status
as legal persons to band councils and bands.
This recommendation, if implemented, would give Band Councils
the advantages and liabilities of corporate status (i.e., to be
able to hold title to land, to sue or be sued, to enter into
binding contract).
Survival
A Ministry of Northern Affairs ' Task Force on transportation
and living costs in remote northern Ontario communities found
that almost 67 per cent of the population in these settlements
depended wholly or partially upon social assistance.
The 1981 census also noted that while status Indian
households north of 50 are 1-1/2 times the size of non-native
households, their total income is only two-fifths of that of
non-native families. On a per person basis, this means status
Indians have only one-quarter of the per capital income enjoyed by
non-native. (However, it must be kept in mind that they also have
fewer costs because housing and dental care, for example, are
provided by the federal Government and native people are exempt
from taxation.) And, I should point out here, no census figures
can take into account the higher cost of most goods and service
services in the north. Overall, the 1981 census data may paint
too rosey a picture of the economic situation of the north
relative to the south since they do not reflect the impact of the
1982-83 recession and of the continuing reduction in world demand
for primary mining and forestry products.
The Government itself is only too aware of why many, if not
most, Indian families depend on welfare and job-training grants.
In its February, 1983, submission, Canada Employment and
Immigration Commission, Ontario Region, candidly admitted: In
the oommunities north of 30 the vast majority of those jobs whiah
are available to native people are on short-term job creation
projects (shorter than one year) or in local government where
salaries are paid directly from transfer payments. While many of
Indian People of the North
4-15
these jobs have skill development aomponents , employers and
sponsors are limited in the length and breadth of training which
can be provided. There are few private sector employers operating
in these communities to provide industrial training. In larger
native communities such as Big Trout Lake or in towns like
Geraldton or Red Lake, native employment is, for the most part,
similarly limited to government and job creation projects despite
the existence of other employers."
While commercial harvesting activities (e.g., trapping,
fishing and wild rice gathering) have become increasingly more
important for Indians north of 50, for most, foraging activiites
continue to be necessary to supplement those items which can be
purchased. The major "living-of f-the land" activities pursued by
native people today include hunting, fishing, trapping, wild rice
harvesting, and obtaining wood for fuel and building materials.
Dependence on foraging can vary according to: how many family
members are gainfully employed; the cost of living in the
particular community; a preference to live in the traditional way;
and a preference for local fish, game and edible plants.
A year-round activity, hunting provides native people with an
ongoing traditional food supply, thereby reducing the necessity
for store purchases.
Native submitters to the Commission such as the Summer Beaver
Settlement Council (1982) and the former Chiefs Committee of
Winisk (1982) have stressed the economic and cultural importance
of fishing. They recommended strongly that designated areas be
set aside for this high priority enterprise where commercial
fisheries operate seasonally.
Until the recent past, trapping has been a major contributor
to native livelihood, providing both an income and a food source.
According to the Kayahna Area Tribal Council and the Muskrat Dam
Band, fluctuating pelt prices, high operating costs and the lack
of youth participation in trapping activities have had negative
effects. There has also been an international decline in demand
for furs with increasing opposition to trapping.
Wild rice harvesting, a commercial activity, is firmly rooted
in Indian traditions and forms part of a staple diet for a number
of native communities in the West Patricia region. The
English/Wabigoon/Winnipeg River system and the Lac Seul and
Osnaburgh areas are the most productive. The traditional skills
of harvesting by the canoe and flail method are giving way to
mechanization. Much of the harvest, which varies according to
weather patterns and water levels, is sold to processors for world
wide consumption.
While a few native communities engage in agricultural
pursuits, adverse climatic conditions, short growing seasons and
poor soils restrict gardening to potatoes, turnips and carrots for
personal consumption. As noted elsewhere in this report, there
exists the potential for new, varied and hardier crop varieties,
but this will require intensive research and experimentation.
Indian People of the North
4-16
Although quantitative information on the value of subsistence
is scanty, some subraittors did refer to specific percentages and
dollar values to demonstrate the importance of the subsistence and
commercial aspects of hunting, fishing and trapping north of 50.
For example, Chief Benn Quill stated in 1977 that 40 families from
Pikangikum and Poplar Hill earned about $70,000 from trapping.
During the summer, they caught 59,000 kilograms of fish worth
about $100,000. It was estimated that 80 per cent of the families
of Pikangikum Band trap and 50 per cent fish (Sandy Lake Hearing,
January 10, 1978).
In a study of Kayahna communities prepared for the Commission
by Dr. Paul Dribben, it was estimated that hunting, fishing and
trapping provided local people with approximately 136,000
kilograms of edible meat per year in 1979. A representative of
the Kayahna Area Tribal Council stated that as much as 50 per cent
of food required by native people is derived from subsistence
sources. Furthermore, in his 1984 thesis, George Hamilton of
Lakehead University noted that a 1982 survey of the importance of
subsistence activity on Cat Lake Reserve revealed that wild food
accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the community's protein
requirements.
From the many submissions received on the past and future of
resource gathering in Ontario north of 50, there can be little
doubt that native people are worried. They are concerned that the
white culture does not understand or recognize the subsistance
value of gathering to the native communities and, therefore, worry
about their future ability to continue such pursuits.
The federal Government has spent tens of millions of dollars
in attempts to stimulate economic development on Indian reserves.
But failure to give local residents responsibility for the busi-
ness in question, failure to provide rigorous training in cost
accounting and management control, and failure to introduce incen-
tives by paying salaries significantly higher than welfare
payments have contributed to a number of business collapses.
Further, since government officials have encouraged, if not
required, over-employment to demonstrate the success of make-work
programs, grants have been quickly and unproductively consumed.
There are ways to improve external guidance and financing
systems. However, in my view, Indian communities and their
residents must have the freedom to fail or flourish in their own
efforts to establish viable local enterprises — a freedom taken
for granted by the majority population.
Self-management and local control over business are, to me,
logical, timely and inevitable goals. But, self-management and
the self-sufficiency I believe it will promote, also require
direct ownership of community lands sufficient in nature and
extent to support a suitable range of economic, social and
cultural activities.
As we have seen, reserve lands are currently held by the
federal Government in trust for the resident bands. The legal
status of the Indian bands means that their capacity to own lands
Indian People of the North
4-17
directly and to enter into business contracts and relationships is
non-existent. The federal Government must assist in clarifying a
situation which impedes this desirable goal of self-management.
For me, there is no other conclusion: a humane relationship
between the Indians and the environment in the north of Ontario
can be based only on native ownership and control of supporting
amounts of lands and resources.
People are part of the environment. Their welfare and future
cannot take second place to the welfare and future of lakes, lands
and forest. There is no question that native northerners have
legitimate concerns, complaints and fears. And, there is no
question in my mind that my mandate's priorities include an in-
depth review of the disadvantaged position of our native people.
DISADVANTAGED NORTHERNERS
The terms of reference of my Commission do not call on me to
inquire into such questions as the validity of aboriginal and
treaty rights. Whatever the legal effect of such rights may be,
I have concluded that the province must grant additional lands to
the Indians. Expansion of reserves and ownership of land is a
prerequisite not only for local economic development but also a
means of breaking the cycle of poverty and dependency in many
northern communities.
1 believe these communities need areas of land which can
reasonably provide space for housing present and future
populations as well as community facilities and local businesses,
some forest area for construction materials and fuel, access to
water — both lakes and rivers — for water supply, fishing and
transportation and buffer areas to shelter the community from
other adjacent resource developments.
The Government of Ontario owns the land surrounding Indian
reserves in the north; and it is the Government which must act if
the land base of northern Indian communities is to be enlarged.
There are legal impediments currently which would prevent a
grant of land being made directly by the Government of Ontario to
an Indian community, the Band itself or its Band Council.
It would suffice in my view for such grants to be made to the
Government of Canada in trust for the Band. Eventually Indians,
Bands and Band Councils should have the capacity to own land in
expanded reserve areas.
I urge the Government of Ontario to take whatever legislative
steps may be necessary to permit individual ownership of the
surface rights to land within the granted land area if so
requested by the Indian community. This is essential to their
participlation in our economic system.
The well-being of Indian people in the north has been eroded,
in part, because they have been excluded from the land to sustain
acceptable standards of living in their communities. The
Indian People of the North
4-18
treaties gave the coramuities reserve lands, the reserves are now
too small as populations have grown and the land within them was
often too poor to sustain even the basic needs of the communities.
The poor quality of the existing land designated for his
reserve was pointed out by Elder Albert McKay at the June 17,1983,
hearing in Wapekeka: "Concerning the reserve land, the size of
the reserve land ... there isn't enough room for standing spaoe.
We were set here on earth to live on the land. The designated
lands are very small and they are not good to use. When those
fellows aame in to mark the reserve land, they did not sit down
with the people to find out how much land the people wanted.
They just went ahead and did it themselves ... Our reserve land
mostly consists of swamp. The place they marked the reserve
land's all muskeg .. When the government first signed the treaty
with the native people, from the beginning the promises were very
good. Now, looking at the promises - they're getting smaller.
The promises are gradually being broken."
Population pressures long ago outgrew reserve sizes - the
treaties spoke of granting from a quarter section to a square mile
of land for a family of five. Now there is only a fraction of
that per reserve resident north of 50. Furthermore, population
growth is likely to be substantial in future - and will almost
double by the turn of the century. This increase will occur
because of the substantial proportion of young people - in 1981,
65 per cent of status Indians north of 50 were under 25. Only 45
per cent of the non-Indian population north of 50 is in that age
group, and only 41 per cent of the non-Indian population of the
province as a whole.
I contend it would be immoral for the Government not to take
unilateral action at this time on the grounds that negotiated
resolutions are preferable. On the contrary, the Government would
be demonstrating a new and credible resolve to deal fairly with
Indians.
Most reserve areas now lack the capacity for even minimal
support. If Indian communities and their residents owned or
controlled more natural resources which could yield, through their
efforts, significant food, revenues and jobs, there would be a
greater possibility for viable local economies and a resultant
reduction of the welfare and transfer payments now sustaining
existing communities.
Just how the lands to be conveyed should be selected is not
easily formulated. The Indian communities themselves may have
strong views and opinions may differ among residents about which
land should be selected and which land should not. Some commun-
ities may wish to relocate entirely. Others will find it
difficult to trust the Government's initiative and may perceive it
to be a tactic for frustrating real or contemplated claims based
on alleged breaches of treaty or aboriginal rights. Indeed, the
Government of Ontario has attempted to grant land to an Indian
community located on Crown land and the offer was rejected.
Implementation of my recommendation should therefore be
Indian People of the North
A-19
accompanied by public statements by a Minister that the land
grants have no strings attached.
4.2 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario grant Crown land to Indian
communities located north of 50, pursuant to procedures
outlined in Recommendation No. 4.3.
I heard considerable evidence from Indian people in the north
about their lack of power to influence development. Some Indian
communities spoke directly of the relationship between their lack
of power and the ownership of land. Representatives of the Summer
Beaver Settlement Council spoke directly of their needs at one of
my hearings in November of 1982: "Essentially y what Summer'
Beaver is requesting is as follows: One, that a reserve be set up
taking in the area presently inhabitated and providing adequate
additional space for population growth and expansion. Two, that
the people of Summer Beaver expect to be consulted by the Ministry
of Natural Resources or any other provincial or federal government
agencies on any projects that Sumner Beaver feels rightfully
belongs to its children.
"Land is an essential part of the livelihood of the people of
Sumner Beaver thus the urgency to settle this question of land
status. The residents are greatly concerned about their future
generations and feel it their responsibility to provide the land
resources for their children's needs. The ultimate goal for the
re-establishment of this community is that Summer Beaver is to be
self-sufficient. To be self-sufficient these people whose lives
are so interwoven with the land must secure for themselves and
their children a viable land base."
To negotiate the selection of land to be granted to each
community would take lengthy periods of time. It is better, I
believe, to follow a fair procedure for selection, grant the lands
selected and subsequently negotiate the grants of additional or
alternative lands as and when a community requests. This over
time will be inevitable, just as villages, towns and cities
elsewhere in the province seek to expand their boundaries from
time to time. The procedure I am recommending is, in my view,
— given the circumstances in Indian communities — appropriate
because it is expeditious.
4.3 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario appoint a Northern Land
Commissioner under the Public Inquiries Act to Identify and
report to the Government on Crown lands to be granted to and
for the use, benefit and eventual ownership of Indian
communities north of 50 for the settlement of these
communities, their present and future residents, and the
surrounding environment.
My experience in this inquiry underlies my belief that the
Northern Land Commissioner should be given the freedom to adopt
his or her own hearing and consultation procedures. I do not
Indian People of the North
4-20
believe that the Commissioner should seek or fund extensive
submissions or studies. The task of the Commissioner would,
however, be greatly aided if he or she was empowered to appoint
one or two Indian "assessors" with special knowledge of local
lands and community needs.
The Government of Ontario should, however, grant all surface
and subsurface rights in the lands selected for grant to Indian
communities. As a result, Indians would have similar rights in
these lands as they have within the existing reserves. Ownership
of all rights would provide protection to these communities in the
event of mineral development.
Existing rights to surface and subsurface interests should,
however, be respected by the Northern Land Commissioner and these
rights excluded from any land recommended for selection and
grant.
4.4 Recommendation:
That the Northern Land Commissioner, In Identifying and
recommending Crown land for grant to northern Indian
communities, consider:
- the adequacy of existing reserves for community needs;
- current and future populations;
- present and future community requirements for food
gathering, housing, community facilities, water supply,
energy, fuel, building materials, transportation and
communications ;
- existing surface and subsurface rights;
- the needs of existing, contemplated or likely local
businesses or economic development projects;
- the views of the Indian community affected;
- the need for buffer zones to shelter the community from
adjacent resource development impacts.
4.5 Recommendation:
That on receipt by the Government of Ontario of the report of
the Northern Land Commissioner, the Government of Ontario
unconditionally grant all rights In the lands identified by
the Commissioner to the Government of Canada in trust for the
use, benefit and eventual ownership of the indicated Indian
communities; and that after such grants have been made, the
Government of Ontario be prepared to negotiate the
unconditional granting of additional or alternative land if
and when petitioned by representatives of northern Indian
communities.
Indian People of the North
4-21
The land to be granted by the province would continue to be
subject to all provincial laws. However, because the Indian
communities in the north of Ontario are now exempt from tax and
have low incomes, they will for some time lack the capacity to pay
either federal or provincial taxes. 1 believe that both federal
and provincial Governments should confirm to exempt them from tax.
Whether they should cease to be exempt when able to sustain the
payment of tax is a question which should be resolved subsequently
through negotiations between the federal and provincial
Governments and the Indian communities themselves.
A. 6 Recommendation:
That all income earned by residents and businesses living or
located on land granted by the Government of Ontario to
Indian communities in the north be exempt from taxation until
such time as the federal and provincial Governments agree,
after consultation with affected Indian communities, that
taxation if imposed would not discourage or lessen business
or other economic development activities.
There is one related matter which merits my attention at this
juncture. I have heard evidence of the concern of Indians about
prospecting activities which on occasion may have occurred on
reserve land without notice being given or the consent sought of
affected residents. Indian communities appear not to know very
much about the actual nature of prospecting methods and about
their effects on wild life, fish and forest. Some people appear
to believe that prospecting is always followed by the development
of a mine. Most prospectors would wish that this were true but
they, like the Government of Ontario, can appreciate that
prospecting activities can cause anxieties for Indian
communities.
I believe that if prospecting or mineral exploration is
planned for lands occupied by Indian communities, those persons
undertaking such activities should be legally obligated to give
the communities affected reasonable advance notice, and a full
explanation of the nature and timing of the activities proposed.
4.7 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario introduce legislation to
require that those persons undertaking prospecting or mineral
exploration on lands occupied by Indian communities give
reasonable advance notice to the communities affected of the
nature and timing of such activities.
Expanding the "owned" land base of Indian communities
addresses only some of their problems. How can their rights to
hunt, fish and trap in treaty areas also be ensured?
Quotas
While the treaties guaranteed native people continued access
to hunt, fish and trap, many native people emphasized to me the
Indian People of the North
4-22
threat to their cultural traditions and a reduced ability to
subsist is being brought about by government-imposed quotas.
Quotas set by the Ministry of Natural Resources for
commercial fishing and trapping refer to, not only a maximum but a
minimum allowable annual harvest. The minimum must be met for an
operation to continue to be licensed. Some native people told me
they feel compelled to over-fish the lakes each year to satisfy a
minimum government quota to retain their licence, thereby causing
a negative impact on long-term harvesting potential.
As Noah Atlookan pointed out at the Fort Hope hearing in
September, 1983, Indians have sound environmental reasons for
resisting quotas: "Why we are not... in a hurry to fish these
lakes to send fish out to sell, we are going to he here for a long
time. We are not going anywhere so we have to go easy on our
lakes so we can live off of them in the future. The Ministry of
Natural Resources sets a quota to send out fish by the loads every
day and pretty soon if we do that... our lakes will be fished
out."
In rejecting the idea of a quota system, the native people
also emphasized to me both the spiritual ties of living off the
land and the essential cultural traditions which enhance their way
of life and preserve a symbiotic relationship to the northern
environment.
The Pehtabun Chiefs Tribal Council noted the Indians'
pragmatic use of resources - without the need for quotas - in a
1983 submission to me which emphasized nature as the key to
sustenance as well as tradition and culture: "It is because
our way of life is at stake that we cannot allow any policy of the
Ontario Government to place additional restrictions on the way we
use the land. Otherwise, our civilization will be destroyed, and
that not only would harm us, but everyone in Ontario . . . The
truth of the matter is that European civilization and our
civilization are quite different. Our civilization is based
directly on the land — the plants, the animals, the birds and the
fish. We use them to feed ourselves and our children, and this
means that if the land is destroyed , we will die."
As the Summer Beaver Settlement Council (1982) submitted:
"We have protected our land and resources better than those people
in the south and we can continue to do so."
VHio better to deal with resource issues than the people who
have co-existed successfully with nature's largesse and
restrictions for centuries? Surely it is time for a renewed
confidence in the ability of Indian communities to participate
meaningfully in resource planning and land use decisions regarding
their economy.
As Chief Jim Diamond of the Ontario Abitibi Band told the
Timmins hearing on November 24, 1977: "J think that companies
and governments should consult with the Indian people before they
do anything to our land. We were here first. We live on the land
Indian People of the North
4-23
and we understand that land. We have been pushed further and
further north. Pretty soon we will have no place to go.
The Ministry of Natural Resources' quota system is one of the
most prevalent native concerns and has served to widen the
distance between native and non-native co-operation. Here,
certainly, is an example where strife and dissatisfaction could
have been avoided had the native people been consulted first.
It is my belief that if these feelings of mistrust and
misunderstanding are to be overcome, the Ministry must begin the
training and hiring of native conservation officers. This
proposal has been endorsed by a number of native submittors to the
Commission from communities such as Sachigo Lake, Fort Hope and
New Post Band.
I am of the opinion that the long-standing ability of native
people to manage their own resource harvesting and to monitor user
pressure has not been sufficiently recognized. I envisage the
need for at least one officer per community use area.
The Indian Conservation Officer would not only strive for
mediation and compromise among conflicting resource parties
regarding development of an appropriate quota system. Native
people north of 50 would have official, knowledgable and local
spokespersons to ensure equitable involvement in such matters as
resource data collection, fieldwork, surveys and interpretation.
The Indian Conservation Officer would ensure that native
participation was meaningful throughout planning and resource
management projects.
4.8 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources train and employ
Indian Conservation Officers.
The presence of knowledgeable Indian Conservation Officers
would, I believe, lead to a better understanding among competing
resource users of the value of subsistence activity and resource
gathering in Ontario north of 50. It would also help provide a
means of two-way communication between native people and the
provincial Government concerning environmental impacts on
subsistence activities north of 50. I believe such officers would
help mediate and seek compromise among conflicting resource users'
quotas; they would also disseminate knowledge and encourage
participation in planning at the local community level.
Indian Conservation Officers should have adequate training at
a northern educational facility offering courses in resource con-
servation, management, government planning policy and native sub-
sistence activity. They should play a key role in the hiring and
training of native staff to assist in the management of hunting,
fishing and trapping activities by native communities north of 50.
4.9 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources establish special
committees to advise the Ministry on research, planning and
Indian People of the North
4-24
resource management matters as these pertain to Indian
communities; and that Indian Conservation Officers be among
the persons named to such committees.
There are economic, environmental and humane reasons for
affirming the Indian communities' priority resource harvesting
rights, whether for subsistence or commercial purposes, in land
areas adjacent to their communities.
The Government of Ontario does not consider that the Indian
rights to hunt, fish and trap are exclusive or have any priority
over rights to engage in similar activities which may be granted
by the Government. Further, it would appear that there may be
legal restrictions on the right of Indians to hunt, fish and trap
where the products of these activities are sold commercially.
Resource developments and related transportation systems have
increased non-Indian hunting, fishing and trapping activities.
Stocks of fish, game and wild life have been reduced as a result.
The incentive I believe for Indians to continue hunting, fishing
and trapping in treaty lands has diminished because of reduced
returns and the lack of Indian control over traditional gathering
areas.
I have spoken elsewhere in this report about the importance
of traditional food gathering to the Indian communities of the
north. Hunting, fishing and trapping are key activities in food
gathering which have been relatively ignored by the Government of
Ontario's resource allocation policies and decisions. This has
contributed to the erosion of standards of living in Indian
communities.
I considered a number of ways in which Indian rights to hunt,
fish and trap could be protected from other resource users. The
land areas I have recommended that the Government of Ontario grant
to Indian communities will only provide limited secure opportu-
nities for hunting, fishing and trapping. The Governments of
Canada and Alberta, in recent agreements, have granted large areas
of land to native groups for ownership and in some instances for
management in order to secure native opportunities to hunt, fish
and trap. I have concluded that the Government of Ontario must
take steps to protect the rights of Indian peoples in the north to
continue hunting, fishing and trapping on reasonable and produc-
tive land areas before other resource users totally frustrate the
possibility of such activities continuing. Protecting these
rights, which in law I would think is supported by the treaty
obligations of the province, will also have economically benefi-
cial repercussions for Indian communities. It will mean that
those Indians who choose to hunt, fish and trap whether for
personal consumption, community use or commercial purposes, will
have priority rights to engage in these activities, subject only
to conservation controls acceptable to the community. In a sense,
what I am about to recommend would eventually involve the Indian
peoples as the managers of the fish, game and wildlife they gather
and the areas in which this gathering occurs.
Indian People of the North
4-25
I heard many calls at my hearings for protection of native
traditional resource uses. At the Kingfisher Lake Hearing on
June 14, 1983, the need for additional lands for Indian use was
presented by Noah Winter, Band Administrator for the Kingfisher
Lake Band and President of Kingfisher Lake Socio-Economic
Development Corporation: "... We, the native people of
Kingfisher Lake, vecommend to the Royal Commission that the
surrounding area be used solely for the inhabitants of the area
whiah are the members of Kingfisher Lake Band. This will act as a
resourae base to continue our native livelihood as much as
possible; this land and its natural resources will act as a base
for some of our economic development aspirations. This will also
act as a base to continue and preserve our unique cultural
heritage which we now enjoy. In order to make this possible we
need to control and manage the said land with no interference from
outside government regulations. What we ask, Mr. Commissioner , is
nothing new. We ask only to leave the land to us as it has been
for the last hundreds of years."
4.10 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario designate community use areas
in the province north of 50 in which hunting, fishing and
trapping by Indian persons would have priority over other
resource users, subject to Recommendation 4,11 to 4.14.
The community use areas I am recommending should encompass
those lands on which the residents of an Indian community rely for
fish, game and wildlife. I believe that community use areas may
vary in size and location depending upon the productivity of the
land and waters and conservation needs.
I received evidence from a number of Indian communities of
both current and historic resource use patterns in areas
surrounding their communities. Indians have had to hunt and trap
over extensive areas of land in order to achieve what at times
were only subsistence returns. I do not propose that gathering
areas should be designated for all the land that has been used at
one time or another for hunting, fishing and trapping by Indian
people. Rather, community use areas should encompass those areas
in which an Indian community is actively carrying on these
pursuits.
I leave to the Government of Ontario the decision as to
whether or not implementation of my recommendation for community
use areas should occur by way of legislation or could occur under
the considerable discretion the Government now has in determining
resource uses on Crown land. In either event, the procedures
governing the designation of community use areas should be clearly
spelled out and publicized in ways the Indian people of the north
can comprehend them. This may require dissemination of such
procedures in Indian languages.
4.11 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario establish procedures for
designation of community use areas by the Ministry of Natural
Indian People of the North
4-26
Resources; that such procedures be activated by an
application by an Indian community located north of 50 and
that the Ministry designate the Community Use Area as applied
for within 90 days of the application If It has received
evidence of the community's reliance on the area for hunting,
fishing and trapping.
As communities wished to vary the size and location of their
community use areas, they would again apply for modifications or
new designations as necessary.
Those persons holding resource use or occupany rights
previously granted by the Government should not, of course, be
affected by the designation of community use areas. Nor should
the existence of a community use area preclude public access
across the land area designated.
4.12 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources exclude from any area
designated as a community use area any existing rights of
use of occupancy and nake provision for easements to permit
public access along water ways and reasonable public
recreational and tourism uses which are not likely to
impinge on fishing, hunting and trapping by members of the
Indian community for whom the designation of a community use
area was made.
As I have already indicated, I would expect that the
management of fish, game and wildlife stocks in community use
areas would eventually become the responsibilty of the Indian
communities themselves, and in particular, resident Conservation
Officers.
To prevent the continuation of disputes over the placing by
the Ministry of restrictions on levels of hunting, fishing and
trapping, I have concluded that there must be provision for
independent determination of the appropriateness of such a
restriction. The idea of an independent biologist which was
contemplated by the now defunct Fishing Agreement accepted by the
Government of Ontario in late 1983 suggests what might be an
acceptable approach.
4.13 Recommendation:
That the Ministry name an independent scientist acceptable to
affected Indian communities whose decisions on the
appropriateness of any restriction on levels of hunting,
fishing or trapping would be binding on all parties.
The possibility will no doubt arise of other resource uses in
designated resource use areas. I do not believe that such
uses, whether they involve forest cutting, mineral exploration,
mining or the construction of an outpost tourist camp should
necessarily be precluded in designated gathering areas. Whether
such resource uses proceed should however be determined by the
Northern Development Authority which should act on behalf of the
Indian People of the North
4-27
affected community in negotiating a resource use agreement with
the developer. As I have recommended elsewhere in this report, it
is most likely that any alternative resource use proposed for a
community use area would be deemed to be a significant undertaking
under the Environmental Assessment Act and require accordingly an
assessment in conformity with this legislation.
4.14 Recommendation:
That In Che event of any resource use other than fishing,
hunting and trapping by the affected Indian community and its
residents being proposed for a designated resource use area,
that a precondition of such use be the negotiation of a
resource-use agreement between the developer and the Northern
Development Authority.
My recommendations for the granting of additional lands to
Indian communities and the designation of community use areas for
their hunting, fishing and trapping activities would, if implemen-
ted, greatly contribute to the capacity of Indian communities in
the north of Ontario to move towards greater self-sufficiency.
There would also be a related increase in the perception of people
in these communities about their capacity to control and influence
their own destinies. These are recommendations, in other words,
which would go some distance in helping to break the current
feelings of hopelessness and despair which plague too many of our
northern Indian communities.
EDUCATION
A brighter future for Ontario's Indians depends in large part
upon improved and expanded educational opportunities. There can
be no question about the failure of the white man's education
system to adapt itself to the realities of Indian life. However,
in speaking of Ontario's moral obligations to its original
inhabitants, it would be unfair and unwise for us to assume the
worst in the intent of past governments' actions. I believe we
are witnessing today the results of action, undertaken not in
malice or indifference, but rather in misguided but well-meaning
ignorance of the impact of forcing one culture's values upon
another.
No greater example of this exists in white-Indian relations
than in the evolution of native education. More than any other
issue addressed to me was the concern expressed by mothers,
fathers and elders for the future of their children.
In different ways and emphasized with tautness of lips,
furrowed brow and impassive eyes, they repeatedly directed
attention to their unprepared, untrained and unemployed youth, who
are controlled by the educational system of the south. The
following quotes from native parents illustrate their concerns:
"Look around you — our youth have learned they do not have
to work to subsist,"
Indian People of the North
4-28
"Removed from native training and placed in schools
controlled by government y our youth have lost the art of
self-sufficiency ."
"When our Grade 8 students go south they are told they
have to be upgraded to enter Grade 9."
"If they go south for employment they rarely obtain
work, except on the lowest rung of the ladder y and
finally return home disheartened or alcoholic."
"The educational system, controlled by you, has estab-
lished for us a lost generation that we are left to
live, grieve and deal with through degrading welfare and
as parents find that the child has been spoiled, has
become unfit for the daily tasks of survival, and is
virtually impossible to understand."
These statements are serious condemnations of the
Government's decision to administer white education to native
children. The current situation demands a serious review which
concentrates onimmedirate-Jjiitiatives and action, with full native
input .
The British North America Act of 1867 listed specifically
among the powers of Parliament, responsibility for "Indians and
lands reserved for the Indians" (Section 91). Although
Section 93 called for education to be an area of exclusive
provincial jurisdiction, both levels of Government agree that
responsibility for the education of the Indian living on reserves
resides in the federal domain. However, the Indian Act provides
that the Minister of Indian Affairs may share delivery of
education with other groups — most pertinently here, the
province.
The Impact of the Whiteman's Education
The image of the slovenly, lazy, drunken Indian — the
unfortunate result of those who leave the reserves uneducated and
hence unprepared for urban life in the south — unjustifiably
burdens all Indians.
Rejection by the greater society plays its part in making
life difficult for both children and adults going out to school.
The loneliness of a child of any age away from home is increased
when he/she is made to feel inferior. Insecurity and shyness
become overwhelming. In such impressionable years, these changes
become exceedingly dangerous and often cause severe identity
crises.
There are families in all northern reserves who have
experienced major disappointments when they sent their young
people to high schools in the south. In those rare instances
where an individual has gone through the system to obtain a high
school or university education, his or her success has been
achieved in spite of the present system, rather than because of
it. The personal strength of the individual or his or her family
Indian People of the North
4-29
in overcoming the loneliness, prejudice and ridicule of
Euro-Canadian society has, in almost every case, been the sole
cause for success.
A native teacher along the Hudson's Bay coast recalled to me
her years away from home in high school, and the loneliness she
experienced. She said: "On several ooaasions I walked street
after street looking for a native family, and when I finally found
one I invited myself in and unloaded my desperation. You cannot
imagine how wonderful it was for me to be among people of my own
culture for that short respite. We became close friends."
In Fort Severn, a father explained the loneliness of his
daughter attending high school in Thunder Bay. She pleaded to be
allowed to come home. Determined it was in her best interests to
get her high school diploma, he telephoned her long distance every
day to assure her that they were thinking of her. He hoped to
uplift her spirits to continue but, in the end, lacking friends
within the school student body, the girl went home.
"There is no friendship , no love, like that of the parent for
the child." H.W. Bucher
As the parents become more aware of the progress and benefits
derived from a good education, they more readily accept this as an
alternative to their own traditional way of life and learning.
However, this happens only in some cases, when a graduate is
fortunate enough to find a job that will fulfill his/her training.
All too often the benefits of education are not observable because
trained and educated offspring find they have no work to which to
return. They then face either the demands of complete integration
into the mainstream of southern society or continuous unemploy-
ment, having forfeited the family's training in living off the
land.
The pain of complete deculturization was described by Chief
Emile Nakogee of Attawapiskat . "Many of our children have left
the reserve. Many of them never return. Many of them have
forgotten their mother language. All of these things happened
because of the white man's education, an education system that was
forced upon us. For myself, personally, I have been forced to
accept this education system. But it has made me sad. Over and
over I had been told that a high-school education is important and
that it is a good thing. Because of this, I encouraged three of
my children to go out to high school. They did leave the reserve
to attend high school. These same three children have forgotten
their own mother and father. That is not a good thing."
Having by necessity to move into and live with another
culture during high school years away from his/her peers, the
student encounters another cultural shock when he returns home
after many months' absence. The mother tongue has not been
developed and may even be partly forgotten; yet possibly no
English is spoken in the parents' house. Survival skills
required in the northern environment have not been acquired by the
child. At the same time, the education of the white society is
found to be of little use in the north because It does not
Indian People of the North
4-30
relate to the daily life on the reserve. The student misses many
comforts of the city: on the reserve there is no running water,
no variety of stores and little entertainment. The parents, on
the other hand, find it difficult to relate to their child. They
cannot fathom the benefits of white education. They note that the
young people who stay at home are able to support families because
of their training in the traditional ways. The educated child is
of little immediate material use. Friction between child and
parent results. The child sees life on the reserve with different
eyes and the parents suggest that the child has been spoiled, has
become unfit for the daily tasks of survival, and is virtually
impossible to understand.
Indelibly imprinted on my mind during the hearings held in
native communities are the courteous but impassioned presentations
made by the elders, mothers, fathers and young people. Devoid of
any angry rhetoric, they eagerly responded to the opportunity to
explain the bewilderment and real alarm they feel about the
control which government is exercising in almost every conceivable
manner over their lives. This is particularly so because, to
them, the educational process has proven to be a half measure.
They are disappointed with the "product" they have patiently
awaited, notwithstanding the long years their children have
attended school, finding instead that they are still unprepared to
achieve a useful and fulfilling future.
Their messages carried an imploring quality asking the hearer
to understand their situation and plight, repeatedly centering on
the future of their youth and children. One of them quoted
Abraham Lincoln in making his point: "You cannot build
ohavaotev and aourage by taking away man's initiative and
independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them
what they could and should do for themselves."
While Indian parents also want success for their children,
progress within the educational system is not necessarily seen as
the best route, although this viewpoint is growing. The
administrators and educators, in the main, are not from the same
background as their students. Their culture, values, aspirations,
and lifestyle differ. The parents are placed in a conflict
situation wherein they want their children to do well but
became confused when their children reportedly "did well" and, as
a result, became alienated from them. The students' experiences
are foreign and cannot be shared. Their attitudes and values
begin to shift. In the extreme, the fact that they are Indians
may seem to them a cause for distress, rather than a reason for
pride. It is no wonder that parental support for continuance of
education may be less than wholehearted. To knowingly encourage
your children to adopt new ways and grow away from you is not a
course many people would undertake willingly.
If the children are spending their days in school, they also
lack the time and opportunity to learn the traditional skills of
their parents — skills which are still necessary. The family
still must gain part of its livelihood in the old ways, since
alternative employment and income are not available. Particularly
if the children leave home to attend school (as they must if they
Indian People of the North
4-31
wish to go beyond the intermediate grades), their energy and
skills are lost to the family — precisely at the time of their
life when in former days they would begin to contribute
significantly.
Since it was introduced in the north, "white education", like
most other administrative programs, has been delivered to native
people "from the top down". The fallacy of this approach is that,
however good a program might be, it is alien to the recipients
unless they have the opportunity to participate in its planning
and direction. Communities tend to feel more involved with the
educational system where the school buildings were actually built
by local people, ( e.g. , Summer Beaver and Attawapiskat ) , and even
more so where the general design of the school building program
can be associated with their way of doing things. More important
is the lack of any real managerial control over what the
educational system does.
It has been assumed for too long that white society has an
educational system which, with minor alterations in Ottawa or
Toronto, can be adapted to meet the needs of all residents of
northern Ontario. Given the immense differences between white
culture and Indian culture, Indian people are justified in
striving for control over their children's education and regarding
it as a fundamental human right and responsibility of parenthood.
Today there are approximately 8,000 students in the
elementary and secondary schools located north of 50. Of these
5,000 (62.5 per cent) are native students. The number includes
approximately 4,400 students enrolled in elementary grades. Of
the 600 attending secondary schools, 480 (80 per cent) are in
Grades 9 or 10.
While there has been an increase in the number of Ontario
Indians attending and graduating from post-secondary institutions,
there remains a marked contrast between the attainment levels
achieved by the Indian and white populations.
As illustrated in following tables for the 1980/1981 school
year (the latest census figures available), only slightly more
than one-third of status Indians aged 15 and over who had
completed their educations achieved better than a Grade 8 level.
By contrast, two thirds of the white population of the same age
group had more than a Grade 8 education. While status Indians
south of 50 had attained educational levels equal to the
non-natives of the north, they still lagged behind the southern
white population significantly.
Indian People of the North
4-32
EDUCATION: Table 1
Percentage Distribution of Population*
Out of School and Aged 15 and Over
BY HIGHEST LEVEL OF SCHOOLING ATTAINED
1981
% with Grade
8 or less
More than
Grade 8
Total
North of 50 **
South of 50
Status Indians
64.2
35.7
100%
Non-Natives
33.2
66.8
100%
Status Indians
33.2
66.8
100%
Non-Natives
20.8
79.2
100%
1971
% with Grade
8 or less
More than
Grade 8
Total
North of 50 **
South of 50
Status Indians
89.3
10.8
100%
1
Non-Natives
32.3
67.7
100%
Status Indians
57.2
42.8
100%
Non-Natives
32.6
67.4
100%
Source : Custom Tabulation prepared by the Census Division, Statistics
Canada, from data collected in 1981 Census and the 1971 Census.
* The population in each Census year is comprised of all those out of
school since September of the year preceeding that Census year and
aged 15 or over in that Census year.
**For a more detailed breakdown of the schooling attained by the north
of 50 population see Table 2.
Indian People of the North
4-33
EDUCATION:
Table 2
Percentage Distribution of Population
Out of School and Aged 15 and Over
BY HIGHEST LEVEL OF SCHOOLING ATTAINED
North of 50
Grade 8
or less
Less than
Grade 5
Grades 5-8
Status
Indians
1981
Non-Natives
1981
Status
Indians
1971
Non-Natives
1971
34.5
29.7
4.4
15.1
62.8
26.5
6.4
25.9
More than
Grade 8
Grade 9-10
Grades 11-13
Some Post-
Secondary
Non-University
(includes
trades training
certificate or
diploma; non-
university)
Some University
(includes
certificate
programs)
University with
Bachelors
Degree or
higher
18.4
7.1
7.8
1.8
.6
17.7
22.8
26.8
5.7
7.2
7.5
2.3
.4
.6
27.3
19.9
13.2
4.4
2.9
% Totals
(Rounded)
100%
100%
100%
100%
Source: Custom Tabulations 1981 Census.
Indian People of the North
4-34
EDUCATION: Table 3
Proportion of Population 15-19
Attending School During the 1980-81
School Year*
Number at
School
Population
15-19
% at
School
North of 50
Status Indians
555
1,885
29.4
Non-Native
700
1,070
65.4
South of 50
Status Indians
4,320
6,735
64.1
Non-Native
574,865
790,435
72.7
Source ; Custom Tabulations 1981 Census.
*Attendance is measured in response to the Census question 35,
"Have you attended a school, college or university at any time
since last September?" Responses include full-time attendance
and part-time attendance at all elementary, secondary, and
post-secondary educational institutions and trade and technology
training facilities.
Improving the educational level of northerners is a beginning
to a solution of the endemic unemployment in the north even though
current unemployment rates are high. The low level of secondary
and post-secondary educational attainment for the status Indians
north of 50 can be attributed to the lack of basic educational
opportunities available to them.
THE NEED FOR CHANGE
I have concluded that it is unthinkable and savage for us to
presume to meddle with or disturb the culture and lifeways of a
people who have existed since time immemorial unless we employ the
greatest of respect and caution through honest communication with
those affected as we try to establish — with their full
participation — an educational system which incorporates broad
mutual understanding. In this attempt we must be guided by the
finest, most dedicated and practical educators we can assemble.
The northern people have an inherent ability, founded on their
natural attentiveness , to respond heartily to the concept of
education. Their intellectual capabilities, memory and interest
are highly developed and deserve to be honored.
Indian People of the North
A-35
Not only did the Euro-Canadian society formulate the
institutions which govern the education and lives of Indian people
today, but it imposed those institutions arbitrarily without
establishing a mechanism for them to be changed in accordance with
the needs and desires of the native people. The end result is
that Indian people have been reduced from self-sufficiency to
dependency on people of another culture.
A representative view of what the people of northern Ontario
think about local control over education was expressed by Grand
Council Treaty // 3 at Commission hearings in Kenora: "My
people must control their oim system if they are to make
changes.... We want to decide on the objectives of education. We
want to choose the curriculum and the methods of teaching. We
want Indian control of Indian education. The reason for this is
simple: We want to use education to regain control of our lives.
We know that until our children become doctors and nurses, our
health will be in jeopardy. Our homes on reserves will not be
designed for comfort and safety until there are Indian engineers.
Our legal system will not be just until we have Indian lawyers,
public officers and judges. Through our own system of education,
our children will have the access to jobs. They will have the
means to communicate and unite. They will have strength in
politics, and the freedom to live where they want to live."
As noted elsewhere in this report, I believe a viable future
for Indians north of 50 depends on their involvement in planning
and decision-making for economic development. I also believe that
their effective involvement is dependent on a sound education.
Developing a more effective education system to which Ontario
natives can enthusiastically respond is one of our greatest
challenges.
Education and economic policies should not be treated
separately: they are two sides of the same thing. As Dean Rusk
told a conference on economic growth and investment in education
in 1962: "education is not a luxury which can be afforded
after development has occurred; it is an integral part, an
inescapable and essential part, of the development process."
A NEW APPROACH
An effective attack on the problems of native education must
Include the elementary, secondary and post-secondary school
levels.
For the native student, all post-elementary education takes
place within provincially-administered institutions. If the
native child is to receive an education on a par with his white
counterparts, the native elementary schools which prepare students
for entering such institutions must be on a par with those
elsewhere_.^ While foc^ a number of ^gal ajod" economic reasons I
believ^ the' federal^ Government sh6uld continue to bear fiscal ,*■*
native child is to receive an educatipff on a par with his white \
counterparts, th^' native elementary scfiools vjtrich prepare students
lor entering Xuch institutions must be y^n a ps^r wit]i those
elsewhere. While for a number of legal and economic reasons I
Tndian People of the North
4-36
believe the federal Government should continue to bear fiscal
responsibility for native education, I believe the following
recommendations should be implemented by the Government of
Ontario.
4.15 Recommendation:
That elected school boards be established in each Indian
community to be responsible for the administration and
delivery of educational services at the local level.
It is obvious to me that major curriculum changes are
required if native schools are to become more relevant to the
native people, their traditions and their environment. A more
relevant curriculum could be an effective tool in preserving
traditional culture and skills. It could also go a long way
towards solving the current truancy problems.
4.16 Recommendation:
That the Indian community school boards, in conjunction with
the Ministry of Education and native parents, establish a
special curriculum for community schools which is on a par
with provincial standards but which also accommodates the
traditional culture.
4.17 Recommendation:
That Indian community school boards and the Ministry of
Education recruit teachers from qualified members of the
community.
I believe it is imperative as well to stop the practice of
forcing students to leave home and family at a critical time in
their lives in order to further their education. Giving these
students another two years of study within their own communities
would assist them in gaining self-confidence, self-discipline and
the maturity to venture forth from their familiar and familial
surroundings. The building of special facilities need not be the
only option when much could be done using TV Ontario and/or
educational videotapes.
4.18 Recommendation:
That Indian community school boards in northern communities
provide Grade 9 and 10 within the community.
These changes, if conducted thoroughly and with great
attention to community consensus, would yield a more mature,
better prepared, self-disciplined and fully bi-cultural 14- or
15-year old leaving the reserve for further education. Self-
discipline and self-motivation are the only ways to overcome the
problems of lack of supervision outside of school hours when
students are away from home. (Self-discipline is also a
traditional native characteristic.)
Indian People of the North
4-37
To ensure Che success of the educational program, of course,
there must also be changes in the living and economic conditions
of the communities since the real possibility of a job is one of
the best motivations for getting a student to study.
Elders and parents fully appreciate that secondary schools
cannot be justified in all their small communities and, while it
would be preferable if they could, such small secondary schools
would not offer the normal level of educational options available
in a larger school.
I received enthusiastic support when I introduced to them my
concept of developing an educational community centred on a first-
class high school with technical and vocational options. Located
in a remote location on the shores of a large lake with a
connecting river system, it would be removed from interfering
politics where, amongst their own peers, the limits sponsored by
prejudice are negated and where courses in their culture and other
pertinent options including out-of-school programs would be
available.
Subject to affirmation by the native people in Northern
Ontario, I recommend:
4.19 Recommendation:
That the Province of Ontario move immediately to approve the
construction of a first-class high school with technical and
vocational options at a remote location selected by
representatives of Indian community school boards.
Subject to affirmation by the native people in Northern
Ontario, I believe the following considerations and requisites in
planning and construction should be reviewed to assure the
objectives of the program will fulfill the breadth of their
educational and training needs:
1) School Board
A Regional School Board should be incorporated with eight
trustees elected in the Pehtabun, Windigo, Kayahna, Central
and James Bay Tribal Council Areas on the basis of
population; and four designated by the Minister of Education.
The latter should not be civil servants.
2) Curriculum
In a residential setting such as is proposed here, the
curriculum will have two aspects, the school program, and the
out-of-school activities.
It would be impossible to overstate the importance of
ensuring native input into the process of curriculum building
and regular curriculum evaluation.
The school program must be designed to meet the unique needs
of native students. It is recommended that there be a core
Indian People of the North
4-38
curriculum of skill subjects (the "three R's") — that body
of skills and knowledge which will guarantee the graduate
access to training for professions in medicine, dentistry,
law, nursing, etc. and the trades at the post-secondary
level. Most, if not all, of the remaining school program
should relate to the culture and lifestyle of the native
community (native history, language, legends, natural
science) .
Instruction in the school program's core subjects must be
individualized to permit Grade 9 students to progress from
whatever achievement level they demonstrate step-by-step
through the course of study. This accommodation is necessary
because of the various educational standards experienced by
northern native elementary school pupils. This approach will
help to eliminate the upgrading or "catch-up-year" which is
so common for native students entering our "outside"
secondary schools and which has been so damaging to their
self-image.
The out-of-school program should include instruction in such
native-oriented courses as native art; handicrafts; dance;
hunting and trapping; preparation and preservation of food;
amd music, as well as supervised sports and recreational
activities.
The school year cannot logically fit the June-September
format of white communities because of Indian requirements
for gathering activities. Rather, school days and holidays
should be designated to satisfy the demands of native
opinion, custom and lifestyle. Individualized instruction
will accommodate this requirement.
3) Support/Training Programs
I am of the opinion that this unique educational approach
will allow students to be involved in all aspects of their
school and their community. For this reason, the following
support services and facilities will also serve as a form of
study and apprenticeship for native students:
a) Eight-room native-operated motel with dining facilities
to accommodate visitors and to be used as a teaching
facility for tourism services and management; to include
resort management and tourist guide training.
b) Native Ontario Provincial Police with police training
facilities for native recruits.
c) Fish and Wildlife Conservation officer training.
d) Management and administration of wilderness parks.
e) Experimental Demonstration Projects into appropriate
technologies for the north: agriculture specialization
with vegetables which can be grown in a short season;
Indian People of the North
4-39
energy-wind generation: solar heat; housing - northern
log model.
f) Sawmill to produce building supplies, such as dimension
stock and fitted logs for housing as part of a practical
forestry course which includes logging, sawing,
reforestration, forest care and management.
g) Fish plant with freezer and ice house to contribute to
the school's food supply and as part of a seine net
fishing course, to demonstrate the rigid process and
rules necessary for this exacting activity to be
successful.
4) Physical School Plant
Native selection of school site (on or near Esker or End
Morain);
Native committee to guide and finally determine the
architecture acceptable;
Native committee to guide decision of building materials to
be used (e.g., logs taken from the area, if available);
Provision for Grades 9 to 13 classrooms;
Provision of small elementary school to accommodate children
of staff;
Library, shops, computers and facilities;
Recreational complex - gymnasium, arena with artificial ice,
swimming pool, bowling, archery, pool tables, music room,
piano and musical instruments, study room, art room;
Outdoor sportsfield and track.
5. Other Supporting Needs
Housing for students, all of whom will live in, be provided
preferably in small units to accommodate 10 to 12 students
each;
Housing for educators, instructors, and support staff to
conform with overall setting;
Cafeteria;
Laundry and dry cleaning facilities;
Incinerator for refuse;
Sewer and water treatment plants;
Indian People of the North
4-40
Aircraft landing strip;
Medical centre with doctor, dentist and nursing care;
Central heating plant (fuel - cord wood, woodwaste from
sawmill) ;
Fire Hall — equipped with fire-truck. Fire chief (possibly
same person as plant superintendent) to drill classes in fire
safety and control, including airport ;
Maintenance shop.
6. Staffing
The Ontario Ministry of Education should publicize and
promote the Northern Regional High School by inviting and
encouraging dedicated educators to take up the challenge to
make this major educational project in the north a successful
model for the native people, the province and the nation.
Once the classroom door is closed, the teacher controls the
events which either encourage or discourage students from
acquiring the knowledge they must incorporate. The role of
teachers in shaping the future social, economic and cultural
development of Indian communities should not be
underestimated by anyone.
This education proposal cannot be contemplated in half
measure. If we are to eradicate the inequality and to inspire
hope for changes at this juncture which will both exhibit the
Government's determination to meet the challenges of a lost
generation and reverse the welfare culture imposed throughout the
north, then our efforts must be enlightened, refreshing and
reassuring.
I must reiterate the desperate need to restore strength and
animation to the spirit of our northern Ontarians who have always
recognized and respected education as a means of attaining
personal independence and self-respect. There is still time to
afford them the tools both cultures know and regard as necessary
to understand and participate in this world.
A vocational/technical high school with facilities which
enable educators and instructors to provide diversified courses
relative to the local environment and the world at large — as
seen from the people's perspective and founded with their support
will produce dramatic results. Excellence will nurture and
develop excellence.
At last to be afforded equality within their own setting and
culture, to participate in the construction of a first-class
educational complex knowing it will be led by dedicated educators
and instructors, will generate the spirit and will of Ontario's
northern native young people toward preparedness and achievement.
The northern native people can feel assured that they will be
relieved of their anxiety for the future education of their
Indian People of the North
4-41
children and grandchildren. I am convinced elders and parents
alike will effectively illustrate their determination to make not
only the high school a success, but will become more directly
involved in the elementary schools on the reserves to better
prepare their children for high school. Success is the outcome of
spirit initiated early in life and first generated from within.
The students should have the further opportunity to learn and
understand the operation and management of any or all of the
supporting facilities of the school, be it the cafeteria, the
laundry and dry cleaning, the incinerator, the sewer and water
plant, the airport, the nursing station and St. John's Ambulance
training, the central heating plant and the maintenance shop, all
of which will become valuable to them and the future development
of their home communities.
The Theme of the school could well be:
"THE DOOR IS OPEN TO CURIOSITY AND CREATIVITY".
There is every reason to believe that the students from a
Nishnawbe Aski Alma Mater could compete with the rest of society
in academics and entrepreneurship in a cradle of options dealing
with northern resources, athletics, art, music and culture.
Indian People of the North
CHAPTER 5
THE NORTHERN FOREST
We come now to Che heart of the matter: the boreal forest.
Within that forest, as In any other, there is one unshakeable
truth: If you cut down a tree and don't make certain another
grows in its place, the forest disappears. I stress such a
seemingly self-evident fact because successive government and
forest products companies have ignored it since the first axe bit
bark, in this province.
In earlier days, this was an easy fact to forget — the
forest stretched in endless waves, forever; people really did
believe it was so immense that it would always be there. In the
light of present-day knowledge, however, that view is not
supportable.
Nonetheless, government and companies go on allocating and
cutting trees on the basis of phantom estimates of what is there
and how long it will be available for use. It's always possible
to make figures support a given goal; but reality is relentless:
unless we begin acting as if we believed, once and for all, that
the forest, like any other living thing, is finite and fragile, we
will destroy it, just as we have destroyed the forest of mighty
pines that covered much of southern Ontario a century-and-a-half
ago. And, if the tree isn't there, no amount of political
rhetoric or public relations gloss will make it grow.
I have concluded that the existence of a perpetually renewing
boreal forest is a crucial element in any serious plan for the
future survival of not just the northern environment, but the
province as a whole. That existence is, I have found, seriously
threatened. The consequences are severe. Through the boreal
forest flows much of our water supply, wherever we live in the
province. The forest undoubtedly plays an important role in main-
taining the very air we breath; it is also home and a source of
sustenance for the majority of the people living in the north. It
is the engine of one of our most important industries, providing
many Ontarians with jobs and income. It is far too late for hand-
wringing so I am suggesting a variety of measures to deal with the
damage that has already been done and to halt further depletion of
the forest.
THE BOREAL FOREST
One must first understand what the boreal forest is and how
it has been used. A detailed description of Ontario's boreal
forest is available in the North of 50; An Atlas of Far Northern
Ontario published by the Commission. For this report, it is
sufficient to say that the major stands of Ontario's boreal forest
lie south of the 52nd parallel of latitude in the western reaches
of Ontario north of 50 and comprise some 9,700,000 hectares of
trees. Described in The Forest Resources of Ontario , the standard
work in the field: "This forest Ts primarily composed of
conifers, with white and black spruce the characteristic species.
Balsam fir, jack pine, white birch and trembling aspen occur
throughout this forest region ... As it passes from the
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5-2
Preoambrian Shield to the Palaeozoic sedimentaries of the coastal
plain to the north and east y the forest becomes transitional in
nature. Occupying an area of flat topography and poor drainage ^
and subjected to increasingly unfavourable climatic conditions ^
the tree species are reduced in number, size and distribution.
Good tree growth is restricted to the low alluvial banks of
streams and to the old sea beaches which formed sandy ridges
paralleling the coast. Here, white spruce, balsam, fir, trembling
aspen and white birch occur. Back from the rivers are vast areas
of muskeg and bogs; the prevalent tree association is black spruce
and larch, greatly reduced in growth. As the coast of Hudson Bay
is approached, white spruce, larch and finally black spruce
disappear ."
Clearly, it's a massive forest, but one widely affected by
the arctic cold of Hudson and James Bays and therefore, more
fragile than that of the south. Lower levels of precipitation and
a lower mean temperature cause slower rates of growth and a
shorter growing season. There is evidence that it is difficult to
re-establish some species (e.g., black spruce). Mortality rates
are higher for young seedlings and there is evidence that it is
difficult to re-establish a new species, particularly the black
spruce, a preferred species of the forest products industry.
Little is known about soil types and thickness or other
factors which determine the growth and regeneration potential of
the boreal forest. Indeed, I heard no evidence that contradicted
the assertion of a Ministry of Natural Resources foresUer that
"very little is known concerning forest growth rates ... for this
As a northerner, what 1 have observed for more than 50 years
confirms the vulnerability of the northern forest. Trees must
survive on a thin veneer of soil, in short summer seasons and must
survive harsh winds, insect damage and forest fires; in the best
of circumstances, their rate of growth is very slow. Furthermore,
research reviewed by the Commission suggests that many areas in
the boreal forest are probably not capable of extensive
regeneration, particularly if standard cutting and regeneration
methods are used. In other words, without extreme caution, a tree
that is lost, whether naturally or not, may well be gone forever.
THE FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
Yet it is this boreal forest that the forest products
industry has assumed will be available to meet its needs for wood
as the supply of timber in the forest elsewhere is exhausted.
Like too many other resource exploitive actions, a constant
expansion into virgin forest and the depletion of the timber
resource have been the dominant characteristics of the forest
products industry's use for the forest in this province so far.
Must it continue to be this way?
Without doubt, the forest products industry is economically
and politically powerful in Ontario. Some 160,000 people are
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5-3
directly employed in the forest and in wood product manufacturing.
They produce more than $7-billion dollars worth of wood products
annually; 42 communities in the province depend on the industry
for their very existence, communities like Kapuskasing, Hearst,
Dryden and Kenora.
Ontario collected more than $51-million in fiscal 1983-84
from forest products companies in stumpage fees. Wood and wood
products, account for almost 6.5 per cent of Ontario's exports.
Commission figures for 1983 show that approximately 10 to 15 per
cent of all forestry output in the province carae from forests near
or north of 50, and this is likely to increase in the future.
According to the Ontario Forest Industries' Association, 10 per
cent of all Canadians owe their livelihoood, directly or
indirectly, to the existence of this country's forests; in 1983,
20 per cent of Canada's wood and wood products exports, worth
$2.64-billion came from Ontario.
Pulp and paper mills are the leading manufacturing sector in
Canada, employing nearly five per cent of all Canadian production
workers with jobs in manufacturing; they account for 7.6 per cent
of value added in manufacturing. In Ontario, pulp and paper
manufacturing is fifth in terms of value added — motor vehicle
parts, iron and steel, motor vehicles, other machinery and
equipment are ahead - and sixth in terms of production workers.
It provides 2.8 per cent of Ontario's manufacturing employment and
produces 3.5 per cent of the total value added by this province's
production workers.
This major industry, bound by its resource, is dependent on
the continued capability of the province's forest to supply it
with adequate volumes of timber. Responsibility for Ontario's
forest — virtually all of which is on Crown land — lies with the
Ministry of Natural Resources. So among the first questions I
asked the Ministry were: how much forest is there now? How much
will there be in the future?
TIMBER SUPPLY
I found that the Ministry's estimates of timber supply are
based on information in its Forest Resources Inventory. The
inventory of any particular area begins with field work and
sampling to identify the general location of timber stands and the
species in these stands. The area is then photographed from the
air and, with the assistance of information from the earlier
sampling, the photos are used to identify age, height of trees and
timber volumes. A map is then prepared showing the location of
similar stands of timber; according to the Ministry, it enables
one to pinpoint, for example, a stand of 30-year-old jackpine and
to have a general idea of the quality and volume of that timber.
I found that forest sampling is limited, even in fragile
areas of the boreal forest; the Inventory tends to over-estimate
actual timber volumes and does not contain information that
permits estimates of the capacity of forest land for regeneration
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5-A
if the forest is cut. In fact, Che Ministry acknowledged that
nothing is known with any degree of certainty about the likelihood
of regrowth on any forest land until after cutting has taken
place. So much for estimating future supply.
The Forest Resources Inventory need not be — indeed, should
not be — so limited in content. Technologies like remote
sensing exist and make more accurate and complete inventories
possible. While costs are higher, they are, in ray view, clearly
justified. Otherwise, we will continue to cut down the forest
before anyone knows whether it can ever grow again.
My conclusions about the Forest Resources Inventory were
confirmed in submissions made to the Commission; the Canadian
Institute of Foresters - Northern Section was only one of a number
of organizations which told me that the present state of
information on Ontario's forests does not permit reliable
estimates of timber volumes or regeneration capability.
5.1 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources be required by law to
establish and maintain an up-to-date Forest Resources
Inventory and that this Inventory contain accurate
Information on timber volume and regeneration capability of
the province's forests including timber volumes on already
cut and regenerated areas.
Obviously, this recommendation should be implemented before
further areas of virgin forest are allocated for cutting.
The fact that the Mnistry has not collected accurate data on
the volume of timber in the boreal forest has not prevented a
number of eminent foresters from concluding that we have reached
the limits of sustained timber supplies in this province and that
we are cutting more softwood than is currently growing in
Ontario's forests. An in-depth study I commissioned from Lakehead
University titled The Economic Future of the Forest Products
Industry in Northern Ontario (or the Lakehead Report) confirmed
that this was the case. I received no evidence from either the
Government or the forest products industry that contradicts this
information.
Others in the north believe the evidence of what they see
daily as proof that wood supply is dwindling; why else do trucks
travel such great distances to transport timber from forests to
mills; what else can explain the diminishing diameter, year after
year, of the logs being trucked?
Estimates of timber volume are a key element in how the
Ministry determines how much forest the industry can cut. The
Ministry's determination is arrived at by use of a formula that
contains the following elements: the estimated volume of trees
present ("the growing stock"), the estimated rate at which these
trees are growing and the number of years it will take the trees,
on average, to reach cutting age of maturity ("the rotation
cycle"); the result is "the annual allowable cut" (AAC). The AAC
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5-5
is, in theory, the portion of the growing stock that the Ministry
considers can be cut each year without harm to the forest's
regenerative capacity. It is expressed as the constant area in
hectares that may be harvested annually, assuming that new growth
in the forest equals the volume of wood cut. This assumption, I
believe, has been patently wrong for a number of years.
In theory, the existing forest could continue forever if
cutting were limited to the volume of timber that grew in the same
forest for the same period and that survived fire, insect or other
damage. Therefore, knowing what volume is growing becomes a key
factor in supply projections; this, as I've already indicated,
requires knowledge of the forest and of factors influencing its
growth. It also requires information about those parts of the
forest that, because of inaccessibility, rugged terrain,
allocation to other uses or poor regeneration prospects, cannot or
should not be cut.
Clearly, areas that can't be cut, for whatever reason, reduce
the overall amount of available timber; nonetheless, the
Ministry's AAC specifies what areas of the forest can be cut
annually — rather than the volume of wood that can be taken from
them. This means that substantial variations in the density of
forest growth in the boreal forest can be ignored in determining
the amount of the AAC. In fact, neither the Ministry nor any
forest products company knows with any precision the volume of
wood that can be removed from specific stands. As a result, it is
extremely difficult to assess the extent to which the timber
allocated for cutting has, in fact, been used efficiently.
Further, there is no obligation to achieve any pre-determined
volume of cut.
This is particularly evident with regard to hardwoods; it is
bizarre that these are left to rot on the forest floor because, I
was told repeatedly, of apparently higher processing costs or lack
of markets. It is also true that licensees are not required or
encouraged to account for such practices.
The annual allowable cut figure assumes that wood within a
given area will be fully utilized, which clearly is not the case.
It has been estimated that only 85 per cent of softwoods and half
of the hardwoods allocated for cutting in the province were, in
fact, cut and used. According to the Lakehead Report, the numbers
in the area through which 50 runs are even more disquieting:
37 per cent of the annual allowable cut for softwoods is taken,
while only a truly shocking 5.2 per cent of hardwoods are used;
presumably, the low level of hardwood use means that many trees
have been left to fall or to rot on the forest floor. When areas
are cut, using the clear-cut method, this is the usual outcome.
It must be recognized that the Ministry is aware of the problem
and that hardwood usage has been increasing in recent years.
Companies also appear to be reluctant to cut bud-worm
Infested timber, balsam and dead-fall even though the timber
involved can in most instances be processed economically although
profit may not be as high.
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5-6
This lack of commitment to use every possible tree in the cut
area and the history of forest depletion are the reasons I reject
the current vogue within the Ministry and the industry for speak-
ing of "harvesting" wood in Ontario. Harvesting is a value-loaded
phrase: trees are no longer "cut", wood fibre is "harvested".
(In the same way, animals are no longer trapped or killed, they,
too, are "harvested".) But the word "harvest" has a specific
meaning in the English language; while it is "to reap", it is
also "to lay up or husband" — that is, to gather crops as part of
an established process that includes care, planning and
replenishment. We have yet to earn the right to say we "harvest"
trees in this province.
5.2 Recommendation
That the Crown Timber Act be amended to provide that forest
product companies be strictly liable for wasting wood in
forest areas allocated to them for cutting and subject to
fines equal to the value at the mill of wasted timber; that
the AAC be calculated In volumes of timber rather than In
area of forest; that licensees be required to account for the
volume of timber cut and used and the volume left; that the
stumpage fees paid to the Government of Ontario by licensees
be reduced for hardwoods, balsam. Insect-damaged and dead
timber to levels that will encourage the use of such
timber.
There is, on occasion, a certain amount of fiction in the AAC
when it is expanded to permit cutting of mature or overaged
timber; if not cut, it would be lost to disease, blowdown or
fire. While it makes sense to take out these stands, a system
genuinely committed to the growth of a second forest would insist
that the annual allowable cut be later reduced when old or mature
timber is removed from standing stocks. If this were to be done,
it is estimated that the AAC for softwoods would be reduced by 20
per cent by the year 2000.
5.3 Recommendation:
That the annual allowable cut be adjusted over the next
decade, beginning In 1986, to reflect the actual timber
supply In Ontario's forest.
Moreover, the AAC frequently does not take into account the
fact that regeneration has been unsuccesful; thus the presumed
growth rate of trees used in setting the AAC includes trees that
are nonexistent. According to one estimate, an annual average of
42,000 hectares of productive forest were lost in the 1970 's
because of unsuccessful regeneration. It appears that the AAC
presumes the existence and growth of non-existent trees.
I fear that a continuing rate of loss of productive forest
land is still the case. Each year more regenerated back-log is
added. There are statistics which support and statistics which
refute this concern — this heightens my anxiety.
The Northeim Forest
5-7
A part of this backlog lies north of 50 in the boreal forest
I am informed that the Ministry is attempting to rehabilitate
neglected cut-over forest land there, which is commendable. But
we must set as our goal, using the best information available, the
regeneration of backlog forest land to acceptable and disclosed
standards. Similar backlogs exist in other provinces — British
Columbia and Quebec, for example. The goal proposed in British
Columbia for the regeneration of backlog land over a 20-year
period would seem to be reasonable for Ontario. It appears
logical to concentrate on the most productive sites closest to
mills and around existing communities which are dependent on
forest operations for economic survival. This approach, over
time, will lessen our need to rely on the uncertain regenerative
capacities of the boreal forest in the remote north.
5.4 Recommendation:
That the rehabilitation of the backlog of cut-over forest
land not sufficiently regenerated occur over a 20-year
period; that these efforts be concentrated first on forest
lands that are most likely to sustain regrowth and are
closest to existing mill sites and second on forest lands
around communities in which the principal employer is the
forest products industry.
I recognize that perhaps as many as 40,000 hectares of forest
land may have to be regenerated annually. But we must, like
Sweden and Finland, consider that forest renewal is the first
charge against all of the revenues derived from cutting the forest
by government and industry. The backlog is in reality an as-yet-
undeclared part of the province's long-terra debt which we must now
begin to repay.
Estimates of timber supply have political ramifications; they
affect business and investment plans, the financing of operations
and the expansion of the forest products industry, as well as the
availability of jobs. For the Government, with responsibility for
forest management and for determining acceptable cutting levels,
as well as for the economic health of the province, this is a
dilemma. Recognizing supply constraints means reducing levels of
cutting, which in turn, implies fewer jobs in the forest product
industry. Thus, estimates of timber supply have unfortunately
become tied to political credibility. In my opinion, it becomes
important that timber supply estimates must be made or at least
confirmed independently.
In the situation of short supply that exists now and for the
foreseeable future, it would be disastrous if the forest products
industry expanded its mill capacity. Any expansion would lead to
additional pressures to cut timber at rates exceeding sustained
yield levels. These pressures are difficult for Government to
resist when capital has already been invested and existing jobs
may be at risk.
The problem is that the people who make decisions about
capacity still haven't admitted that there is a short supply. Nor
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5-8
has the Government's artificially high annual allowable cut
figures or timber production targets signalled the supply reality.
Bold realism is required.
5.5 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario freeze mill capacity until
wood supply under sustained yield management permits
expansion.
It may be tempting to end the freeze if improvements in wood
utilization occur, if reduced rotation periods are found to be
acceptable by foresters or if more efficient processing
technologies emerge; but these temptations must be resisted until
we cut no more than is actually being grown in the forest.
The Lakehead Report described the historic pattern of forest
depletion which occurred when sawmill capacity was allowed to
exceed resource supply. It led to retrenchment and the closing of
mills — exactly the sort of boom-and-bust situation that still
plagues northerners. Let's avoid repeating the errors of the
past.
Some may insist that alteration of the AAC and a halt to mill
capacity expansion will reduce jobs in the industry; in reality,
however, as we move toward greatly increased regeneration
activities and to the kind of specialized logging that will be
required in the northern forest, new jobs should be created. If
the industry were on its knees, the changes I am recommending
might be difficult to implement. But that is not the case. A
recent report, prepared for the Ontario Economic Council,
concluded that the forest products industry in this province is
holding its own in the world marketplace — and is likely to
continue to do so. In other words, the industry is well able to
look after itself while the Ministry of Natural Resources
concentrates on looking after the forest it holds in trust for all
the people of Ontario.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
The Reed Agreement
The Reed Agreement and the related matter of mercury
poisoning in the Wabigoon/English/Winnipeg River system were the
specific events which led to the establishment of this Commission.
Both remain, as it were, unfinished business — especially the
latter — but they should not be permitted to do so. Therefore,
before turning to other matters involving the boreal forest, it is
necessary to deal specifically with them. I would be morally at
fault if I did not do so.
On October 26, 1976, the-then Minister of Natural Resources
signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Government
of Ontario with representatives of Reed Ltd., (hereafter "Reed"),
a major British-owned forest products company active in many
countries. Reed at that time owned a large wood-processing, pulp
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5-9
and paper complex at Dryden, in northwestern Ontario, the wastes
from which flowed into the Wabigoon River.
While the Memorandum (or "Agreement", as I shall call it,)
was hailed by communities eager for new industry and employment,
it was criticized by many throughout the province, especially
those native people living in White Dog and Grassy Narrows - tiny
hamlets in Indian reserves downstream from the Dryden mill.
Mercury pollution of the waterway on which they depended for food
and employment as fishing guides had devastated their lives.
Their plight had received a great deal of public attention at the
time the Reed Agreement was announced. That Reed should be
granted rights to build another mill and to cut a huge tract of
natural forest sent Shockwaves throughout the province. The
resultant outcry eventually led to the appointment of this
Commission.
The Agreement covered natural forest on Crown land — public
land held in trust by the Government for the benefit of the people
of Ontario. It gave Reed the largest continuous cutting area ever
allocated to a single company. It gave Reed the right, subject to
certain conditions, to cut conifers in 49,200 square kilometres of
virgin forest. The size of that tract was tied to the capacity of
the pulp and sawmill complex contemplated by the Agreement:
enough wood fibre was needed to feed a manufacturing facility
producing 900 to 1,000 tonnes of pulp daily and 180 million board
feet of lumber annually. Reed's Dryden mill then had a capacity
of 350 tonnes of pulp per day (about three per cent of all the
wood pulp produced in Ontario).
The Commission learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources
that the Agreement evolved from Reed's response to a request by
the Ministry to the forest industry at large for proposals for use
of what it then saw as surplus timber. Reed's response (the only
one received) proved particularly interesting because of its
potential for employment: fully implemented, it implied that as
many as 1 ,900 new jobs would be created in a region where
employment opportunities are limited or, for many people,
non-existent.
Between 1974 and 1976, the Ministry estimated that the
remaining forest of northwestern Ontario contained a sufficient
volume of wood pulp fibre to support a major new processing and
manufacturing complex. This estimate was based on limited aerial
photography; the tract in question had not been inventoried by the
Ministry at that time. When the Ministry did conduct an inventory
of the area orginally allocated to Reed by the Agreement, less
timber than originally estimated was found.
Reed commissioned a design for the pulp and sawmill complex
and employed a consultant to select suitable sites for the various
parts of the complex and to prepare an environmental impact
statement. The Ministry of Environment found Reed's assessment to
be inadequate under the Environmental Assessment Act . The
Commission reviewed Reed's voluminous documentation and was left
with many questions and concerns about environmental effects.
These questions have never been answered since Reed ceased work on
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the project, ostensibly because of changed financial and economic
circumstances which, it said, made the project's viability
doubtful.
In its submission to the Commission, Reed stated that the
integrated forest products complex contemplated under the
Agreement "would not be finanaially viable if it were to be
oompleted before the end of this decade and its viability beyond
remains in question" .
Thus, shortly after the beginning of the Commission, the very
project that had led to its establishment and that, inevitably,
would have been a primary focus of its work, ceased to exist. But
while the project envisioned by the Reed Agreement has been
dropped, strangely the Agreement itself continues to exist.
In early 1980, Reed sold the Dryden mill and related assets
to Great Lakes Forest Products Ltd. (hereafter "Great Lakes").
While the Reed Agreement contained no provision for assignment.
Reed agreed to sell Great Lakes "all its right, title and
interest in the Memorandum of Understanding of October 26, 1976."
The then-Minister of Natural Resources, the late James Auld ,
disclosed the existence of the assignment in a memorandum to the
Legislative Assembly, dated March 3, 1980. He stated that the
then-President of Great Lakes, C.J. Carter, had informed him of
the inclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding in the sale. The
Minister said he considered the rights and obligations of Reed
under the Agreement to have been "legally conveyed" to Great
Lakes. That Mr. Auld thus recognized the conveyance on behalf of
the Government served as its legal acceptance of Great Lakes as
successor to Reed under the Agreement.
At the time the Reed Agreement was signed, the Government of
Ontario was responsible for regeneration of forest land following
cutting; as a result, the Agreement did not assign Reed any
responsibility for regeneration. The company was merely accorded
the right to cut "a sufficient volume of conifers" for
processing in the contemplated mill, the proposed appetite of
which was substantial — some two-and-a-half times the capacity of
Reed's Dryden operation. Now, however, regeneration has once more
become the responsibility of forest products companies in return
for security of tenure of the forest allocated to them by contract
- known as forest management agreements - with the Ministry of
Natural Resources. Regeneration to MNR-determined standards is an
obligation under these agreements — a striking difference from
what was contemplated in the Reed Agreement.
Because the mill complex and related forest operations con-
templated by the Agreement were designated under the Environmental
Assessment Act , Reed, and presumably now Great Lakes, must carry
out acceptable environmental assessments. This designation was
the first time ever that an undertaking of a forest products
company had been designated under the Act, and years later, this
remains the only time that this has occurred.
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Neither Reed nor Great Lakes has chosen to complete an
environmental assessment; nor have feasibility studies and
operating plans been completed within the time periods set by the
Agreement.
I have concluded that the Ministry may permit Great Lakes
to cut in the Reed Tract without meeting these conditions. At
present, there appears to be no immediate need for this cutting.
Indeed, in testimony before the Commission on June 30, 1983,
Warren Moore, Manager of Forest Operations for Great Lakes, said
that, given its projections of market demand, the company had no
plans for the tract. Nor did the company, at that time, require
wood from the tract for its existing Dryden mills. Mr. Moore also
stated that, in Great Lakes' opinion, the only feasible locations
for new or modernized mills were in communities where mills
already existed.
Mr. Moore stated, "We expect that the full allowable out
of (the Great Lakes) lioensed areas at Dryden will be required to
support mills ... I don't think there is any doubt that it is
sufficient to produce or supply the present complex at Dryden."
The Minister of Natural Resources' view of the timber
requirements of the Dryden mills differed from that of Great
Lakes. In response to written questions from the Commission, the
then-Minister said in March of 1983, that recently-increased
capacity at the Dryden mills required more than the allowable cut
in the Dryden timber limits and wood available for purchase in the
area. The Minister also said that Great Lakes' plans for
increases in the processing capacity of the Dryden mill over the
next five years would necessitate cutting outside the Dryden
limits — probably in the western part of the Reed tract. He
appeared to assume that Great Lakes would be granted the licences
to permit such cutting - even though under the Reed Agreement and
the Environmental Assessment Act , a number of prior conditions
mus t be me t .
The Commission has concluded that Great Lakes does not have
any intention of building a new pulp mill north of 50 of the scale
and capacity contemplated by the Agreement. Moreover, the
Agreement does not conform to current Ministry policies for
regeneration: it does not provide for a forest management
agreement. Great Lakes has no intention in the immediate future
of meeting any of the conditions set by the Agreement. The
Agreement, then, is an anomaly, yet it continues to be a source of
anxiety and of false economic expectations in the north of
Ontario.
5.6 Recommendation:
That the Reed Agreement should be repudiated by the
Government of Ontario and no part of the tract should be
licensed for cutting until Recommendations 5.9 to 5.27 of
this report are implemented.
One effect of repudiation would be to nullify the designation
under the Environmental Assessment Act of planned forest
The Northern Forest
5-12
operations in the tract. Recommendations made later in this
chapter on the applicability of environmental assessments to
forest operations address this issue.
One obvious benefit of repudiating the Agreement is that any
future cutting approved in the area could be governed by forest
management agreements which impose responsibility for regeneration
on licensees.
Repudiating the Reed Agreement should not be viewed as a
criticism of Great Lakes. It is but one aspect of placing the
boreal forest under uniform forest management. There is good
reason to applaud the record of Great Lakes which, after
purchasing the Reed mill (and its wounded environmental record),
moved almost immediately to replace the original plant with a
modernized, efficient and environmentally-improved processing
complex. The company's investment in the future has helped bring
a spirit of renewal to the people of Dryden which was, I note,
declared the province's Town of the Year in 1984.
White Dog and Grassy Narrows
Notwithstanding this, in acquiring the Dryden mill, I believe
that Great Lakes also inherited Reed's moral obligations to the
people of White Dog and Grassy Narrows. Their claims, arising
from pollution of the Wabigoon river against Reed, and therefore,
Great Lakes, remain unresolved.
The Indian Commission of Ontario, established as a result of
recommendations contained in this Commission's Interim Report,
attempted to mediate between the companies, the Governments of
Ontario and Canada and the communities in the hope that a
settlement of these claims could be reached. Although agreement
seemed at times to be close, it has for six years eluded the
participants. Meanwhile, the disaster continues to haunt the
people of these communities. It is ray belief that Great Lakes and
the Government of Ontario must seriously focus on what many
Ontarlans recognize as the company's and the Government's moral
responsibility.
I wish to stress that the Commission was not Involved In
mediation of the dispute or in any attempts to negotiate a
settlement. The terms of reference of this inquiry did not
include any investigation of the cause, effect or liability of any
party as a result of mercury pollution of the Wabigoon/English/
Winnipeg River system. I did, however, hear extensive testimony
about the anxiety and mistrust in northern communities resulting
from the Ministry's grant of cutting rights to the last, extensive
tract of virgin forest to the company implicated In the pollution
of the major northern river system. Government in this province
must attempt to re-establish its trustworthiness as custodian of
the boreal forest for all people who live within its boundaries.
1 firmly believe that one essential step in this process requires
the Government to withhold further access to Crown forests to
Reed's successor until the moral obligations it inherited from
Reed have been met. In other words. Great Lakes should be
The Northern Forest
5-13
restricted to cutting in the company management limits for which
it is now licensed.
5.7 Recommendation:
That until the claims of White Dog and Grassy Narrows are
settled, the Government of Ontario not grant any cutting
rights in forest land outside existing company management
units to Great Lakes or any subsequent owner of the Dryden
mill complex.
In the future, the Reed Agreement will be seen as having a
beneficial outcome, however unintended by the parties to it: it
focused long-overdue attention on the forest of this province and
on our use and abuse of it. It also made us begin to understand
that the forest is finite and vulnerable — that it supports other
users with their own legitimate claims to sharing its resources
— and that unless we change the way we use the forest we have
reached the limits of its capacity to sustain our forest products
industry.
USE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE BOREAL FOREST
Let us turn now to the history of human use of the forest.
The earliest users of the forest were Indians who, for centuries,
have been foodgatherers and trappers; the forest has been central
to their lives — as a vital storehouse of food, clothing, fuel,
tools and shelter. Trapping fur-bearing animals has provided
northern native communities with protein and cash income — not
large in absolute amounts, but significant in local economic
terms.
The arrival of the Europeans was quickly followed by
extensive timber-cutting. When the prime timber in southern
Ontario was depleted in the early part of this century, industry
moved northwestward. In the north, logging began adjacent to
waterways, then to railway lines and to mines. Railway ties and
pit props were made from nearby trees; that kind of cutting was
originally localized but spread as the demand for timber grew.
Sixty years ago, a new phase began, with the introduction of
accelerating demand for northern conifers and their long wood
fibres to process into pulp, paper and particularly, newsprint.
The conifers of Ontario's northern forests have fibre
characteristics that make them ideal in the manufacture of paper
and newsprint.
Demand, beginning in the 1920 's, grew rapidly. By the end of
the I940's, there were 13 pulp and paper mills in operation. The
need for trees to feed expanding processing capacity led to an
inexorable march of cutting operations north and west to where the
province's last significant natural forests now stand.
Regeneration was largely ignored, although tree planting
efforts actually began in the late 1890 's. This resulted in a
small amount of new growth in what had once been southern
Ontario's extensive pine forest. These early attempts were
limited. To this day, timber from the "second forest" provides
The Norbhern Forest
5-14
only a miniscule fraction of the total volume of timber cut each
year.
By the late 1920 's, with the pulp and paper industry firmly
established in northern Ontario, the provincial Legislature saw
the need for some control of wasteful cutting practices. In 1929,
it passed the Pulp Wood Conservation Act . This required all pulp
companies to manage the forest areas in which they held cutting
rights on a substained yield basis — that is, forest management's
aim was to ensure a balance between the volume of timber growing
and the volume of timber cut.
Little was done, however, to enforce compliance, in part
because of the great depression in the 1930 's, but also because of
the deeply entrenched belief that the forest was inexhaustible.
In 1947, the Kennedy Royal Commission on Forestry warned
that total depletion of Ontario's forests was likely if controls
over cutting and regeneration requirements were not imposed.
Subsequently, the amount of regeneration gradually increased.
That Commission reached the conclusion that companies involved in
processing wood fibres should not be involved in cutting timber —
since the mill's appetite, and not regeneration, became the
prevailing consideration. This recommendation was obviously not
implemented.
Since the Kennedy Commission's report, the amount of cut-over
forest land that has not regenerated adequately has increased
yearly. Concern for this backlog has been frequently expressed,
but did not cause the Government to allocate enough money to carry
out the regeneration needed to meet the requirements of sustained
yield management.
In 1953, an amended Crown Timber Act placed responsibility
for regeneration squarely on industry's shoulders; but by 1960, it
was clear that most licensees were not effectively regenerating
the lands they had cut, apparently because of lack of long-term
concern for the forest, little technical expertise and the failure
of Government to enforce the Act. Later, yet another cimendraent to
the Crown Timber Act returned responsibility for regeneration to
the province; efforts increased as all major licensees signed
special contracts to carry out regeneration activities on behalf
of the Government — a move that, in theory, could have increased
the rate of regeneration. However, once again, not enough money
was appropriated to fund a sufficient level of rehabilitation and
regeneration standards were not enforced.
By 1970, surveys indicated that only one-third of recently
cutover areas had regenerated naturally, another third had been
artificially regenerated (with varying degrees of success) and the
remaining third could no longer be categorized as productive
forest land. Studies carried out several years later indicated
that some areas that had been previously classified as adequately
regenerated did not, in fact, meet Ministry of Natural Resources
regeneration standards.
The Novthern Forest
5-15
In 1976, the Ministry commissioned a report on the condition
of the province's forests by Kenneth Arrason, then a well-respected
professor of forestry at the University of Toronto and now the
Government's senior forester.
Armson recommended that "security of tenure" of forest
lands be given to the larger forest product companies by way of
forest management agreements between the Ministry and the
companies. These contracts would allow perpetual cutting rights
providing the licensees met defined obligations for regeneration
based on sustained-yield forest management. Previously, companies
had been granted licence to cut timber in extensive forest tracts
(known as "company management units") for a maximum term, usually
20 years. The lack of secure tenure was perceived to be a cause
of the industry's evident lack of enthusiasm for regeneration.
Armson proposed that forest management agreements be intro-
duced for all company management units (which produce most of the
wood cut in the province); the Government was to commit itself to
assist the regeneration efforts of the companies involved by
providing seed and seedlings, as well as subsidies for major
access road construction. Such roads are a major cost of forest
operations and are essential not only to cutting but also to later
seeding, planting, thinning and fertilizing activities. Armson 's
recommendations were widely supported by foresters; indeed,
similar approaches have been taken in other provinces (Alberta,
for example) with successful results.
His recommendations were implemented in 1979 through
amendments to the Crown Timber Act , which gave the Government the
option of requiring forest management agreements when allocating
forest areas for cutting. If that option is chosen, sustained
yield management is a mandatory element of such agreements.
In the same year, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced
a policy of bringing all company management units under forest
management agreements. In each of the first two years after the
amendments were passed, some 45,000 hectares were brought under
forest management agreements. Since then, implementation of the
policy has slowed. It is now six years since the 1979 Crown
Timber Act revisions and less than half of the forest area which
could have been placed under forest management agreements has been
so placed. Once again, a good reform is being allowed to slip
away.
I strongly believe that forest management agreements should
be a requirement before any licences to cut trees on Crown land is
issued. I am not, however, unsympathetic to the dilemma of the
Ministry. It has the responsibility for subsidizing expensive
major access roads as soon as an agreement is operative, as well
as supplying the seeds and seedlings as cutting proceeds. Even
that, however, cannot stand as a rationale for a slowdown in
extending forest management agreements. We must establish a firm
time table. The alternative is the inevitable disappearance of
the forest.
The Northern Forest
5-16
5.8 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources bring all company
management units under forest management agreements by
December 31, 1988.
The 1979 amendments did not, however, make sustained-yield
management mandatory for all forest areas in the province. The
regeneration of forest in Crown management units, not placed under
forest management agreements or otherwise allocated, remains the
responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources. I find it
perverse for forest product companies to be obliged legally to
carry out sustained-yield management on their units when the
Ministry is not similarly required to do so on Crown management
units.
5.9 Recommendation:
That sustained yield be Imposed by law as an essential aspect
of all forest management in Ontario.
In addition, the stated objective of any forest management
agreement according to its preamble, is to provide "within the
context of a sustained-yield approach ... a continuous supply of
wood ... for a mill or mills to meet market requirements ...".
The problem with that objective lies in its internal contradic-
tions: on the one hand, it espouses sustained-yield management
and, on the other, it talks of meeting market requirements. Which
goal takes precedence if mill capacity and market demand outpace
sustained-yield, which, in essence, is a commitment to cutting no
more than can be regenerated?
5.10 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources amend the objective
set out In the preamble of forest management agreements so
that it calls for the management of the forest area on a
sustained yield basis — the volume of wood that can be cut
not to exceed the volume growing in that area — without
reference to continuous supply, meeting market requirements
or to mills.
I am particularly encouraged to make this recommendation
because the Commission found widespread enthusiasm for sustained-
yield management outside government; for example, submissions by
the Conservation Council of Ontario, the Moosonee Development
Area Board , the Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology
and others contained a common theme: "the quantity of trees
harvested in northern Ontario must equate with the ability of the
forest to renew these trees on a continuous basis".
Sustained yield, as a universal statutory obligation, would
be less likely to be ignored when the Government determines its
budgets. Regeneration and access road expenditures would not be
as easily reduced as they now are. Enforcement by Government of
the sustained yield obligation would also be encouraged, provided
the performances of the parties to forest management agreements
were audited Independently and publicly reported.
The Northern Forest
5-17
CUTTING RIGHTS
One aspect of forest management and regulation that I believe
causes uncertainty for Ontarians stems from how the Ministry
grants cutting rights. Since 1849, the Crown Timber Act has
permitted such rights to be granted at the discretion of the
responsible Minister. Even before 1849, cutting in Crown land was
authorized only by special executive grant. Then, as now,
decisions about who receives licences to cut timber were not
subject to public scrutiny. There are no criteria that applicants
for cutting rights must meet. There is no public tendering
process (although the Crown Timber Act permits this). Stumpage
fees do not reflect the market value of timber cut. Because they
have not paid a competitive price for the timber in the forest
areas they cut, only the costs of cutting and transporting wood to
the mill exert pressure on companies to be efficient.
I question whether this is the best way to deal with a
resource that is now in short supply. Moreover, a discretionary
allocation cannot be viewed by the public as impartial.
After all, an extensive tendering policy and process already
exist. The Government's tendering apparatus is very specific.
There are very stringent regulations to ensure that the system is
as fair and free of favoritism as possible. I can think of no
reason why the allocation of timber cutting rights should not be
subject to similar requirements. Indeed, the Government already
tenders regeneration contract work.
Tenders could be assessed on a number of criteria, including
proposed cutting and regeneration methods, multi-purpose access
roads, local employment and sub-contracting commitments, sawlog
access as well as the prior forest management performance of the
tendering company.
5.11 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resource begin, on an experimen-
tal basis, to allocate cutting rights through a public tender
process.
FOREST PROTECTION AREAS
While I find the introduction of the forest management
agreement to be an excellent reform in terras of accountability for
cutting and regeneration, I have also reviewed the standard
agreement to determine how it attempts to deal with conflict
between various resource users. The cutting of trees (and
numerous submissions made to the Commission have documented this),
limits and, in some instances, prevents other resource uses such
as trapping, hunting, fishing, and other activities for varying
periods of time.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has described the forest
management agreement as establishing a process for resolving
conflicts between forest product companies and other users of
The Nor therm Forest
5-18
forested areas. The Commission's review of the standard agreement
found little basis for this description.
The agreement in effect establishes cutting and regeneration
as predominant activities, but stipulates that these must give way
to the surface area requirements of mineral development and raining
operations. Land subject to previously granted rights of
occupancy is also specifically excluded from the agreement.
Included in this category are: Indian reserves, land that has
been sold or leased and land which is subject to a land use
permit. Also specifically excluded is land selected or designated
for provincial parks.
The standard agreement also permits the Ministry to withdraw
land up to a stated maximum area if the Minister deems a
withdrawal in the public interest. There is not, however, any
provision for automatic exclusion of areas in which significant
recreational, commercial or subsistence uses occur. Nor are
Indian treaty rights to hunt, fish, and trap acknowledged. These
rights, as I indicated in the last chapter, exist throughout the
boreal forest.
The agreement does permit the Minister to designate areas in
which cutting may be restricted or limited in recognition of other
resource uses at the time the company submits, as required, a five
year cutting plan. These areas are called "modified management
areas" which does not convey their purposes to the average
Ontarian. Special cutting standards or "operational
presariptives" may be imposed in these areas by the Ministry.
(I have more to say about standards for cutting later in this
chapter).
I have found that these "modified management areas" are
intended to be, and should be called "forest protection
areas". The concept of designating such areas is most
appropriate if the result is compatible relations between forest
product companies and other forest users. But it would appear
that the uses the Minister considers should be protected will not
include hunting, trapping and subsistence food gathering — all of
which are, in my view, significant activities in the north. Nor
are fragile boreal forest areas covered, even though once cut,
these are not likely to be easily regenerated. The Ministry's
published list of protected uses and areas mentions only
commercial lodges, outpost camps, recreational and significant
fishery lakes, streams or rivers, cottages, railways, canoe routes
and portages; nor have the designation guidelines so far released
by the Ministry dealt specifically with areas in which hunting,
trapping and subsistence food-gathering actively occur.
What concerns me as well is the timing of designation - it
may be too late. Access roads will likely have not only been
planned but built on the assumption that cutting will occur in
areas that subsequently may be or should be designated. The
forest products company involved may assume, and reasonably so,
that only a certain maximum area will be affected by designation.
If that maximum is exceeded, then the economic assumptions
underlying a company's access and cutting plans are eroded.
The Northern Forest
5-19
In addition, I have concerns about the excessive burdens the
current designation process places on northern residents. As
envisaged by the Ministry, the process calls for advance notice
and some (as yet undisclosed) opportunity for submissions by
affected persons. This, in principle, is good. It means that
northern communities and residents (who individually are small
resource users, but collectively are significant users of the
natural forest) will frequently be called upon to assess the need
for designation of forest protection areas. But these people have
limited capacity and means to assess forest cutting and company
operating plans. They are also at a disadvantage since they bear
the burden of proving that particular areas will be harmed by
cutting. The net result, I have concluded, is that under the
current process northerners will eventually be bulldozed into
accepting the preferred cutting plans of licensees and will have
to live, however precariously, with the results.
There are, I believe, alternative ways in which the desig-
nation of forest protection areas could occur and that would
remedy the shortcomings of the existing process. Designation
should be possible at any time and should occur well in advance of
the five-year plan so as not to interfere unreasonably with forest
cutting and road construction operations. Additionally, the
burden of proof that an area should not be designated ought to be
shifted to the forest products company.
5.12 Recommendation:
That "modified management areas" as provided for by the
standard forest management agreement be called "forest
protection areas".
5.13 Recommendation:
That northern residents and communities be given the right to
apply to the Minister of Natural Resources for designation of
forest protection areas at any time, including in advance of
the submission of the licensee's five year plan or the
signing of a forest management agreement.
5.14 Recommendation:
That the Minister of Natural Resources be empowered to impose
such operating standards as the Minister deems necessary when
authorizing the cutting of trees in forest protection areas.
5.15 Recommendation:
That if an objection to designation of a forest protection
area is received, the Minister of Natural Resources be
empowered to refer the natter to the Northern Development
Authority; that this Authority be empowered to terminate or
continue the designation of any forest protection area and to
determine the conditions under which designation is or is not
to occur.
The Northern Forest
5-20
The Northern Development Authority might find that an
appropriate condition of designation, under which prescribed
cutting could occur, would be the negotiation or imposition of a
resource use agreement. As outlined in Chapter 2 of this report,
resource use agreements would define permitted resource uses,
prescribe performance standards and methods for such uses, require
the employment of local residents or the contracting of related
work to local enterprises and provide for mitigation of adverse
consequences. I anticipate that resource use agreements to which
forest product companies are parties, could stipulate the minimal
extent, timing, and manner of cutting, standards for cutting and
regeneration as well as the location and maintenance levels of
access roads. Such agreements could be more onerous for forest
product companies than obligations imposed on them by forest
management agreements. This, however, could also occur when
forest protection areas are designated and operational
prescriptions on cutting imposed.
These recommendations, if implemented, should do away with
the need for the Ministry to impose buffer zones or no-cut areas
around lakes and rivers, or around areas in which other uses are
carried out. The net result, in all likelihood, would not greatly
affect the total area actually withdrawn from cutting.
Restrictions on cutting on the land adjacent to lakes and rivers
would likely continue under conditions set through designation of
forest protection areas or by resource use agreements. But these
conditions would be arrived at through a process that directly
involves local residents and nearby communities and meets their
needs.
The designation of forest protection areas would also serve
as the initiating mechanism for possible compromise between
trappers and forest products companies wishing to cut forest areas
in which trap lines are located. I heard considerable evidence
about the effects - sometimes terminal - of cutting on trapping.
Indeed, forest products companies currently are not obligated
to adjust their cutting plans to reduce harmful impacts on a
wildlife habitat or to compensate trappers whose livelihoods have
suffered because of cutting.
With a forest protection area in place, a forest products
company will have to propose alternative cutting plans or pay the
trapper a financial compensation.
CUTTING METHODS
I have found that there is a need for predetermined cutting
standards. This emerged from the Commission's review of the
environmental effects of methods for cutting trees used by the
forest product industry.
There are three common methods by which timber is cut
commercially. Shelterwood is tree-cutting in relatively narrow
strips or by uniform thinning of a stand in order to leave
sufficient trees to provide seed and shelter for new growth.
The Northern Forest
5-21
In the select method, Individual trees are chosen for
catting; this is used almost exclusively for valuable species —
walnut and oak for instance — which bring higher prices that
offset the costs of this labor-intensive method. Select cutting
is used almost exclusively in the southern forest of the province.
The Ministry of Natural Resources' statistics for 1983-84 indicate
that 9140 hectares were cut using selection and shelterwood
methods. The two together account for annual production of just
less than 15 per cent of all Ontario's wood — in part because
these methods are not easily mechanized.
Clear-cut is, by far, the predominant cutting method and is
preferred by the forest product industry for cutting north of 50
where it is virtually the exclusive method used. In 1983-84,
200,337 hectares of forest were clear cut in Ontario — more than
20 times the area cut by the shelterwood and select methods
combined. I, therefore, have focused on the clear-cut method.
I found that, despite the fact that virtually everyone in the
north has an opinion on clear-cutting, there has been surprisingly
little research conducted or data scientifically gathered on its
particular effects on the boreal forest.
Clear-cut is very much what it appears: virtually all the
forest is cut in a single operation. Easily mechanized as a
result, it is the least costly way of removing wood from the
forest. In Its most highly developed form, large machines cut
trees, remove branches, cut the trunks into smaller lengths and
carry these logs to staging points.
Clear-cutting, whether mechanized or not, results in denuded
areas varying in size and dimensions but most often irregular in
shape because of topography and the age and distribution of the
trees being cut. Some trees are left standing because access is
difficult or they are not merchantable.
Warren Moore, manager of Forest Operations for Great Lakes,
told the Commission that the usual practice in cutting even aged
continuous stands is to employ the clear-cut method; blocks or
strips are left only in cases where the stand covers a particular-
ly large area or where the terrain makes cutting costly.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, continuous
cuts are usually not more than 150 hectares in area although much
larger clear-cuts have been observed, some up to 20,000 hectares.
I was told that large cuts tended to cause environmental and
regenerative problems. The Ministry's policy is to reduce the
size of permitted cuts. Indeed, reductions in clear-cutting have
become standard in the north-central region of the province where
companies have been asked to conform to this policy. However, the
Ministry does not appear to collect or release statistical
information on clear cut size, so the move to smaller cuts cannot
be verified.
Among the many submissions on the effects of clear-cutting,
the concensus was clear: the Impact of clear-cutting on the
The Northern Forest
5-22
forest is substantial and affects "vast areas of ... land and
water as well as those people who use them."
Some people argued that clear-cutting does no more harm to
the forest than the extensive fires that sweep through it every
century or so. They said that both fires and clear-cut result in
regeneration of homogeneous even-aged stands. There is some
evidence, however, that burnt over areas regenerate more quickly
and more evenly than clear-cut areas. Indeed, a more persuasive
view seems to be that, without special site preparation and
tending, clear-cut areas spawn greater growth of less desirable
deciduous species (i.e. poplar). Unless reduced in number, these
can smother the more valuable coniferous species during the
initial regeneration phase.
The effects of clear-cutting go beyond mere cutting of the
forest. As much as 10 per cent of the forest area is allocated
for roads to enable access to cutting areas. These roads often
disrupt soil and drainage patterns, causing soil erosion and
flooding.
Less visible, at least initially, are the effects of the
machinery used in clear cutting. Soil compaction and ruts that
hamper regeneration are common results. Indeed, where only a thin
layer of soil overlies rocky terrain, it may be removed by machine
abrasion. Once surface vegetation is gone, erosion of soil
becomes widespread. I was also told that the extent of damage to
soil and new growth on the forest floor can depend on the type of
equipment used and the training and attitude of the equipment
operator.
But even the best operator cannot prevent the effects of
removing the shelter afforded by trees and vegetation. Once
gone, according to a number of forest researchers, the soil is
more likely to dry out. If shallow and sandy, it is then more
vulnerable to wind and water erosion. This could be prevented, as
a native community involved in extensive cutting has found, by
leaving large blocks or strips of standing forest. This shows, I
believe, the environmental sensitivity of those who depend most on
their forest and who, because of their traditional culture,
knowledge and experience, are keen observers of the effect of
change on the forest and on its wildlife inhabitants.
Eroded topsoil washing into the streams and lakes can
detrimentally affect fish spawning and migration patterns. Fish
stocks may, as a result, be depleted. Exposed soil may be more
subject to leaching which can result in an increase in the
nutrient content of run-off and, hence, in adjacent water bodies.
This, in turn, alters biotic growth and fish populations.
Removal of surface vegetation also decreases the land's
capacity to retain water. Run-off is more rapid and leads to
increased seasonal flooding and lower summertime stream flow.
Drier soil is less suitable for growing seedlings; as plants die,
evaporation from the soil increases while potential for growth is
further decreased.
The Northern. Forest
5-23
Many foresters are opposed to large clear-cuts; some cite,
for example, higher water tables in cut-over black, spruce swamps.
Others speak of the increased likelihood of wind damage to the
uncut forest surrounding large cut-over areas. Some foresters are
also concerned because as much as a third of new growth depends on
falling seeds from nearby trees. Large clear-cuts thus reduce the
potential for natural regeneration.
Some experts also believe clear-cuts harm wildlife. This
happens most often when trees standing close to rivers and lakes
are cut. On the other hand, I was also told that moose are well
served by some clear-cuts that yield higher growths of deciduous
trees, a favorite food. I did not, however, receive any evidence
of a decline in moose in forest areas that were cut by other
methods.
One trapper told me: "Logging in our area is done almost
exclusively in a olear-aut fashion ... ije see a difference in
summer and winter cuts ... the former showing vastly more
disturbance of the forests and soil due to heavy equipment tearing
it up ... The moderating (influence) of the forest is absent and
remains so much longer than in the case of fire ... erosion and
flooding is observed and the silting of small streams and lakes
which may lead to the breaking of beaver dams ... There is more
extensive water starvation in some areas due to the dropping of
the soil water tables ... In low lying areas we see more frequent
flooding and dying trees ... Fur-bearing animals do not live or
propagate in clear-cut areas or in remaining islands of trees
which are usually too small to sustain their needs."
Other trappers told me that it takes at least 30 years for a
clear-cut area to return to being once again a protective habitat
for fur-bearing animals. These trappers found the best habitat to
be 40-to-60 year old growth in mixed forest containing an
appreciable number of deciduous trees.
Judas Kettle, an elder from the native community of Poplar
Hill, summed it up: "If the land is clear-cut, the animals
will leave."
So too, will tourists. Outfitters spoke in submissions to me
of their problems in providing wilderness holidays when large
clear-cuts were plainly visible from roads, lakes and aircraft.
Despite the negative evidence of clear cutting's effects on
the forest, lakes and rivers, forest product companies and the
equipment manufacturers serving them seem to be doing very little
to remedy this situation. Equipment manufacturers, I was told,
are developing less harmful low ground pressure logging machines;
apparently, some are available though few are yet in use. This is
difficult to understand. If farm tractors were suddenly found to
be harmful to the productivity of soil, manufacturers would
quickly have new equipment on the market and farmers would be
clamoring to get them. Forest product companies obviously do not
have the same attitudes as farmers. Nor do they seem to recognize
that their future welfare is inextricably linked to the ongoing
and rapid regeneration of the forest crop.
The Northern Forest
5-24
The Commission found no predetermined restrictions exist to
limit the size or extent of clear cuts. Limits appear to be
imposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources as "negotiated"
maximums when operating plans for cutting and access road
construction are submitted. Yet, even if these are ignored, the
offending companies are rarely penalized.
This is foolhardy. Clear-cutting has too many potentially
adverse effects to permit its unrestricted use in the north of
Ontario without fully assessing its environmental effects and
those, too, of alternative cutting methods.
This is not to say that the Ministry of Natural Resources has
totally failed to recognize the environmental dangers of existing
practices and related management methods. Indeed, the Ministry
in 1981 acknowledged in documents published during its strategic
land use planning process that cutting practices must be altered
because creation of access to specific lakes, erosion leading to
the siltation of water bodies and destruction of wildlife habitat
are all undesirable consequences of unrestricted clear-cutting.
What the Ministry has not done is to devise and impose
standards and rules for permissible and environmentally suitable
cutting. Forest products companies presume clear-cutting will be
the method used: it may only be at the level of the one year plan
that the Ministry decides that other methods should be used. By
then, access road patterns as well as planned volumes of timber
and transport arrangements are so entrenched that a change in
cutting method becomes an economic hardship.
5.16 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources prescribe the circum-
stances in which clear-cutting should not be used.
5.17 Recommendation:
That the Ministry formulate and issue on a regular basis
"Standards for Cutting the Boreal Forest" which set out
appropriate cutting methods for representative forest areas.
5.18 Recommendation:
That, for forest areas in the Reed Tract and north of
existing Crown and company management units, licensees be
required to demonstrate that proposed uses of clear-cutting
and related clear-cut configurations will not irreparably
harm regeneration capabilities of affected sites, the ecology
of adjacent waterways and the viability of other significant
forest uses.
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO CUTTING
There has been some experience in the use of alternative
methods of cutting: the Ministry of Natural Resources has
acknowledged the benefits of what it calls "modified clear-
cutting". This seems to me to be similar to the shelter wood
The Nopthexni Forest
5-2 5
method described earlier. It leaves blocks or strips of trees
standing, at least until adjacent cut-over areas have regenerated
to the extent necessary to provide ground cover and wildlife
habitat. The Ministry has said, however, that there may be
circumstances in which modified cutting is "impractical" but has
not specified what such circumstances are.
My own view is that forest products companies operating in
the north should be required to use a form of cutting in which
recurring blocks or buffer zone strips of trees are left standing.
This conclusion was influenced by the study conducted for the
Commission by John H. Blair, entitled Producing and Providing -
The Story of Kiashke River Native Development Inc. (198A).
Kiashke is an Indian-owned and operated timber-logging
company. Located in northwestern Ontario, the Kiashke operation
is on the west side of Lake Nipigon approximately 185 kilometres
north of Thunder Bay near the Gull River Indian Reserve #55.
A non-profit corporation, Kiashke was initially granted a
Crown timber licence for 101.5 square kilometres of forest near
the reserve. The Indians there hunted moose and trapped game and
fur-bearing animals in the area, obtaining in this way a sizable
proportion of the protein they consumed.
To maintain an acceptable habitat for this wildlife, Kiashke
has used a modified form of clear-cut, cutting in a checkerboard
pattern of 2.4 to 4 hectare blocks. After about 10 years, the
cutting method appears to have been successful in providing
acceptable wildlife habitat and late winter cover for moose herds,
while also maintaining an acceptable level of forest regeneration
in much of the cut-over area.
The Blair study concluded that clear-cutting is less
satisfactory than modified clear-cutting in meeting the needs of
other users of the forest — i.e., hunters and trappers. Modified
clear cutting, however, costs more; equipment must be moved more
frequently; additional roads are needed; mechanization of forest
operations is less feasible so that additional labor is usually
required. Blair found that Kiashke 's cutting methods did not
appear to have affected wildlife to any appreciable degree —
unlike the experience when large areas further north of the Gull
River Reserve were clear-cut. Blair notes that a resident
trapper, Pat Nawijijalck, observed reduced numbers of animals
after clear-cutting.
Modified clear-cutting by Kiashke left behind blocks of
standing trees which Blair found served as fire retardants.
Further, these blocks helped to minimize drying of the soil cover;
windfall and erosion were reduced and forest aesthetics (important
to tourism and recreation) were maintained. Since highly
mechanized cutting was precluded, damage to soil cover was
limited. The forest that remained uncut guaranteed future Income,
since it will be accessible for cutting once regeneration is
established in the adjacent areas.
The Northern Forest
5-26
The forest industry may well complain that modified cutting
will force it to travel further for wood, increase costs and make
the industry even less competitive in the United States, its major
market. In addition, these additional costs, the industry may
assert, could reduce employment opportunities.
Costs, I agree, are initially higher for modified cutting.
But since companies under forest managraent agreements must now
also plan for long-term continuous regeneration activities, modi-
fied cutting, from this perspective, is far from being as
expensive as companies may think.
I must emphasize that whatever the forest industry imagines
the effects of modified clear-cutting might be, Kiashke was able
to use the method and supply wood under contract to a major pulp
and paper company at a competitive cost. What is more, this was
done despite longer hauls. In addition, Kiashke provided
employment to local residents who might not otherwise have had
jobs and was able to maintain levels of hunting, fishing and
trapping for subsistence and commercial purposes acceptable to the
local coraunity.
The experience of Kiashke must make us all question the
wisdom of proceeding to cut the northern forest in the same way
that we have cut the rest of our forest in this province. There
appear to be alternatives that are not only better
environmentally, but also better for the well-being of local
residents.
The Kiashke experience should also cause us to question the
wisdom of permitting large-scale cutting in any part of the boreal
forest before determining the extent of other resource uses, and
in particular, subsistence food gathering activities. As I
explain elsewhere in this report, these are inadequately
documented in most of the north. How then can anyone rationally
suggest that resource extraction take place before knowing the
actual extent of such essential activities?
The Kiashke experience also suggests to me that tree cutting
by persons sensitive to or directly affected by the continuing
viability of the forest may result in less environmental
degradation.
5.19 Reconunendation:
That Che Ministry of Natural Resources consider Imposing the
requirement that all cutting In environmentally sensitive
areas and forest protection areas be contracted out to
specialized cutting companies with demonstrated experience
and expertise in environmentally acceptable tree cutting and
removal.
5.20 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources consider providing
incentives, training and accreditation programs to
The Northern Forest
5-27
northern-based enterprises wishing to acquire the skills
necessary to offer specialized cutting services.
While I have outlined what a number of foresters have found
to be the effects of cutting the forest, no environmental
assessment of any cutting method or specialized cutting machinery
has as yet been undertaken. This seems to me to be a prerequisite
before the cutting standards I have recommended can be formulated.
How can we know how best to cut trees and retain the forest
environment without knowing the environmental effect of how we
have been cutting trees?
The Ministry of Natural Resources has proposed a class
assessment of forest management techniques, including cutting
methods. The Commission's review of the most recent draft of this
assessment concluded that it is a paper tiger. How can one
propose a class or general assessment of a cutting method when its
environmental effects are most likely to be local and specific in
nature, dependent on soil attributes, and thickness, ground cover,
topography, slope, drainage patterns, water courses and climate,
to name some of the probable operative factors? What must first
occur are actual assessments under the Environmental Assessment
Act for proposed cutting methods for a representative variety of
forest areas.
5.21 Recommendation:
That undertakings in which particular cutting methods are
proposed for use in the boreal forest be subject to
assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act and that
class assessments of such cutting method not be permitted
until an information base on the environmental effects of
cutting methods in representative boreal forest areas has
been generated from actual environmental assessments.
These environmental assessments would, I believe, contribute
to the formulation of the "Standards for Cutting the Boreal
Forest" I have called for in Recommendation 5.16. These standards
should, of course, encompass all cutting methods, including
modified clear-cutting, and the manner and circumstances in which
such methods are to be used.
ACCESS ROADS
One unavoidable aspect of cutting the forest is the need for
a network of roads to provide access to wood sources and
transportation of the wood cut. We learned that as much as 10
per cent of a forested area may be used for roads; and that these
roads are also needed for regeneration and future tending of new
growth. They are crucial in fighting forest fires dealing with
insect infestations and salvaging damaged timber. But they do
reduce the total area of productive forest. I have concluded as
well that only in rare instances do access roads not have
substantial effects on the environment.
Forest roads have usually been built for forest industry
purposes - that is, in response to the location of timber stands
The Northern Forest
5-28
to be cut. Full consideration is not usually given to the
potential harm and side effects of providing road access to
ecologically vulnerable areas, to isolated native communities or
to wilderness lakes used by fly-in tourist camp operators. I
found that access roads can allow sport fishermen and hunters to
put additional and sometimes excessive pressure on fish and game
stocks previously used solely for food by local residents.
Heritage, archeological and historical sites are also placed at
greater risk. Poor construction and maintenance practice at times
cause erosion that results in siltation of nearby water bodies and
some harm to fish stocks.
On the other hand, I have found that carefully located, well
constructed and maintained routes can be beneficial. A community
may support the establishment of road access, particularly if the
timing of construction and control over access use meets community
needs. These roads can also serve to distribute sport fishing
and hunting pressures over larger areas, help meet conservation
objectives and reduce potential conflicts with subsistence users.
What this suggests to me is that access roads need to be planned
and that planning should involve not just government and the
forest product company, but also affected communities and
individuals.
The Northern Development Authority should contemplate
integrating the planning of access roads into whatever land use
planning systems evolve. I also envisage that the Authority may
require the negotiation or imposition of a resource use agreement
as a precondition of construction of some access roads. It should
have the power to do so.
In this way, the Authority would achieve what I believe must
be the overall objective for access roads - that they be built
with an eye for all possible uses rather than just those related
to the objectives of a forest product company - that they be built
and maintained to benefit the people, the communities and the
environment of the north as well.
5.22 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered to
require that a resource use agreement be a condition to
commencement of construction of access roads north of
50.
Each road into the north is unique. As a result, they
cannot be lumped into a class and subjected to reduced environ-
mental assessment as the Ministry of Natural Resources would have
It. The Commission's published study. The Road to Detour Lake ,
describes in some detail the processes involved in securing
approval, locating and constructing a major access road to a mine
site in a remote northern area. In my opinion, the study
dramatically shows the need for assessment of all such roads under
the Enviromental Assessment Act before the final locations of such
roads are selected. This will occur if recommendations 1 make in
Chapter 3 are implemented.
The Novtheim Forest
5-29
REGENERATION
On the basis of the Commission's review of the supply of
timber in the province, and in the north, I have concluded that
the limits of softwood supply have been reached. Regeneration is
therefore an essential prerequisite to the continuing viability of
Ontario's forest products industry and to the return of cut-over
areas to productive growth for the benefit of all forest users.
Regeneration is the regrowth of the forest; it may or may not
occur naturally. It may be encouraged and in some situations, may
be possible only through human intervention. This can involve
preparation of the site, planting of seed or seedlings and later
tending, fertilizing and thinning.
The Commission heard testimony and reviewed considerable
evidence on the subject of regeneration; frequently stressed was
that the original species (in the north, mostly conifers) once cut
do not usually return in their original numbers. Deciduous "weed"
trees (such as poplar) tend to dominate second growth in the north
when mixed stands are cut.
Of even greater concern is the fact that more than 30 per
cent of all forest areas cut in Ontario have not regenerated
naturally. Even south of 50, there is cut-over land which
although initially regenerated artificially is now barren or has
only minimal plant cover. The conclusion is clear - for
regeneration of the boreal forest to be effective, continuous
artificial methods are just as essential as the modified cutting
methods I have described earlier.
There are also special benefits from artificial regeneration:
it permits a choice of the trees to be planted and helps ensure
the dominance of faster growing more commercially valuable
species. Artificial regeneration techniques, however, are not
foolproof; in some places, intensive seeding, planting and
tending have led to only minimal regrowth. On occasion, errors in
species selection have prevented regrowth. Yet, over all,
artificial regeneration has tended to produce a better crop of
trees than existed in the original forest.
I presume that the Ministry of Natural Resources assesses the
success or failure of regeneration in a continuous fashion. Yet
there is little evidence of this. Considering the amount of
controversy about the extent and allegedly widespread failure of
both natural and artificial regeneration, it is strange that the
Ministry does not regularly release information or statistics
about these matters. The people of Ontario should be informed
regularly about the extent and success or failure of such
regeneration. The many roles of the Ministry and its concerns for
resource production , resource based employment as well as resource
conservation cause inevitable conflict, or at least the appearance
of it. This has led to repeated calls for independent review of
forest management.
The Northexm Forest
5-30
Debate over just what regeneration has been done, and with
what result, should be based on independently certified facts, not
just reluctantly provided, one-sided information.
5.23 Recommendation:
That an Independent Forest Audit Agency be established with
powers, obligations and Independence similar to Chose of the
Provincial Auditor.
5.24 Recommendation:
That the Forest Audit Agency Inspect, monitor, measure and
report upon the condition of the province's forest and all
aspects of forest managment; and that the Agency be headed by
an Inspector of Forests whose appointment is subject to the
approval of the Legislature and is for a term of years and
level of remuneration that ensures independence.
5.25 Recommendation:
That the Inspector of Forests should report to the
Legislature annually on the condition of Ontario's forests,
the conduct of forest managment, the success or failure of
management techniques including regeneration and the
performance of sustained yield and other obligations imposed
by forest nanagment agreements on forest product companies
and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
While dealing with matters of independence and
accountability, I must say I was shocked by the disappearance of
the post of the Provincial Forester. This official at one time
was the senior public servant in the provincial Government
responsible for the conservation and use of Ontario's forests.
The position now seems to have been relegated to the second tier
in the Ministry of Natural Resources bureaucracy and given the
designation: "Executive Co-ordinator, Forest Resources Group".
I believe the people of Ontario need to know who has
operational responsibility and is directly accountable to the
Minister of Natural Resources for the management of their
forest.
5.26 Recommendation:
That the post of "Provincial Forester" be re-established
within the Ministry of Natural Resources.
My Commission was unable to determine with any degree of
accuracy the capacity for regeneration in forest lands north of
50. From my own observations and the limited evidence of others,
the Commission has been forced, as I indicated earlier, to
conclude that regeneration lags far behind cutting, but we can
provide no estimates of the extent of this lag other than to
conclude that it is substantial. I have no doubt that efforts are
being made to reduce this backlog but the lack of reliable
information also prevents me making any accurate reading of the
The Northern Forest
5-31
extent and results of these efforts. Part of this problem arises
because very little is known about the regenerative capabilities
of specific sites before the decision to cut is made.
What is clear though, is that extensive regeneration at
vastly increased rates is required over the next several decades
to ensure that Ontario's forest industry has the wood supply
needed to feed its existing mills. This will be costly but there
are no alternatives. What is more, regeneration must be carefully
monitored to determine which measures are or are not working.
Failures, if not quickly discovered, introduce further lags which
will again distort estimates of presumed supply in decades ahead.
I think it useful to describe what the Commission has learned
about regeneration and the extent to which various methods of
regeneration may be relied upon. Natural regeneration is
obviously less expensive and more likely to be successful in
modified or shelter-cut areas. It too, however, must be monitored
since it can be unreliable in some circumstances - for example,
because of unpredicted variations in seed supply and climate. It
is, nonetheless, the only feasible method for regenerating forest
growth on shallow soils or on sites accessible only in winter.
The real question is whether such sites should be cut at all in
the northern reaches of the provincial forest. If there is any
significant use or alternative, I believe the forest should not be
cut.
Artificial regeneration is by necessity required for clear-
cut areas. Even in clear-cuts, however, some trees are left
standing. But these can only provide natural seeding for what the
Ministry estimates is 10 per cent of the area involved. Artifi-
cial techniques normally result in initial regeneration of
approximately 60 per cent of the area clear-cut. If we presume
that a further maximum of 10 per cent is regenerated naturally, we
have a 70 per cent area regeneration. There is also, I believe,
an average minimal failure rate of about 10 per cent in areas
being regenerated. It is clear, therefore, that our regeneration
efforts must increase the volume of wood fibre per hectare by at
least 30 per cent if the second forest is to be as productive and
commercially valuable as the original forest.
The first step in artificial regeneration usually requires
preparation of the soil surface; this involves exposing mineral
soil by machine "scarification" (a form of tilling). Chemicals
or fire are occasionally used to remove unwanted vegetation
including the slash left behind after cutting. In some
circumstances, these methods may, in fact, expand the size of
available seed beds. Some areas in the boreal forest cannot be
scarified (for example, black spruce swamps cut during winter).
Site preparation is most often followed by manual planting of
seedlings; the Ministry of Natural Resources informed the
Commission that this technique is more successful than mechanical
planting or seeding. Once the seedlings have grown into small
trees, regeneration is enhanced by removing unwanted trees;
tending and thinning, or "cleaning", as these practices are
called, contribute to steady growth of larger volumes of timber.
The Northern Forest
5-32
Cleaning, in most instances, is done manually, yet is not widely
undertaken. The Ministry indicated that cleaning is rarely
performed in clear-cut areas, with the result that undesirable
species grow unchecked and regenerated commercial timber volumes
are lower than they might otherwise be.
Few steps are taken in these areas to control infestations of
pests. Indeed, insecticides have been applied in recent years to
about only one per cent per annum (roughly 10,000 hectares) of the
province's productive forests. The Ministry of Natural Resources
estimates that only 10 per cent of cut-over areas are cleaned
manually, though chemical cleaning with herbicides is a growing
practice; 10,600 hectares were treated in 1982/83 and 23,125
hectares in 1983/84.
Failure to assess the environmental consequences of these
procedures could in my view be disastrous to northern ecologies.
We do not know enough at this time about how these sensitive areas
react to outside agents. In particular, I firmly believe we need
to know much more before permitting wholesale use of insecticides.
The recommendations made in Chapter 3 would cover, if implemented,
such uses of chemicals.
The assessment of environmental consequences I have
recommended should not be permitted to delay regeneration efforts.
In particular, if we are to make up for the decrease in timber
volume that appears to occur after clear-cutting, regeneration
activities must commence soon after cutting and be expanded to
cover the bulk of the forest land that has been cut over.
5.27 Recoimnendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources take all necessary
steps to ensure that seedlings with genetic qualities of
faster growth and larger timber volume be planted on at least
80 percent of cut-over areas immediately after cutting or as
soon as weather otherwise permits.
We must, as well, recognize that artificial regeneration can save
up to 10 years in the time it takes for a regenerated forest area
to be cut again. Such time-saving should encourage the province
to expand its artificial regeneration efforts as much as possible
possible. Provision should also be made for replanting the areas
in which regeneration has failed on a continuous basis.
I have concluded that follow-up regeneration efforts - known
to foresters as intensive forestry - must be substantially
increased if sustained yield forest management is to become a
practised reality. Most regeneration currently involves "basic"
forestry - that is, site preparation, seed and seeding production,
seeding and planting. This has increased greatly in Ontario in
recent years. Intensive forestry on productive sites - from which
some foresters are firmly convinced can come larger volumes of
commercial timber than those cut from the virgin forest — calls
for spacing of juvenile trees, extensive thinning and
fertilization.
The Nopthem Forest
5-33
Ideally, in the view of Professor F.L.C. Reed, a professor of
forestry policy at the University of British Columbia, we should
each year be spacing and thinning juvenile tree crops in areas
equivalent in size to those artificially planted. Moreover, since
fertilizer can reduce by five to 10 years the time required for a
near mature stand to achieve timber volumes that make cutting
commercially viable, we should, if at all possible, be fertilizing
all suitable areas.
5.28 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources take whatever steps
may be necessary to expand intensive forestry activities by
the Ministry and licensees, such as thinning, spacing and
fertilization, so that by 1990, all areas artlflcally seeded
or planted are spaced and thinned at Intervals of time
acceptable to the Inspector of Forests.
I have already said that the province must ensure that we
regenerate the back log of forest land that we have failed to
regenerate properly within a reasonable time. To accomplish this
goal and to carry out the basic and intensive forestry that
sustained yield forest management requires will obviously involve
a substantial increase in provincial expenditures. This will be
directly offset to some extent by the employment I believe will be
created by a much expanded regeneration effort. But the
Government may find that the hard reality is the need to raise
taxes and stumpage fees in order to obtain the necessary monies.
I do not believe there really is any choice in the matter if we
want the forest to continue to be the contributor to the
provincial economy that it has always been.
There are those who will argue that expending more money on
Ontario's forest is foolhardy if the forest products industry
cannot compete internationally and if there is not going to be a
long-term demand for our wood products.
The current and best view of the industry's prospects (the
May, 1984, report of the Ontario Economic Council mentioned
previously) is that it is alive, well, competitive and will remain
so for the foreseeable future. Shrinking timber supplies are the
industry's major constraint and may mean that it will not be able
to expand its processing capacity.
What, then, of the market for the province's products? On
the basis of information gathered by the Commission, I have
concluded that there will continue to be substantial demand for
Ontario's forest products well into the next century. Indeed, the
Ministry and the Government of Canada have estimated future demand
projections that have caused them to adopt and set an expanded
national wood production target. This target, which was endorsed
through the Canadian Council of Resource and Environment
Ministers, calls for 200 million cubic metres of wood by the year
2000 which is approximately 40 per cent above 1981 production
levels. It amounts to an average annual increase in production of
about 1.8 per cent as compared with the UN Food and Agriculture
The Northeim Forest
5-34
Organization's projection of 2,1 per cent per annum increase in
world demand for industrial round wood over the same period.
So demand is not a problem. Without good quality trees to
cut and process, however, demand is a hollow concept. So too are
all of our land use planning exercises. They assume a supply of
timber which does not yet exist and never will unless we honestly,
and intensively act to restore the trees we take from this once
bountiful but now threatened resource, our forest. Without it,
the northern environment will be a northern desert.
The Northern Forest
CHAPTER 6
THE MINING INDUSTRY
MINING - SEARCH, DISCOVERY AND TECHNOLOGY
A revival of the search for gold with its aura, distinctive
atomosphere, stimulus, hope and fulfilling enrichments that gold
discoveries never fail to produce is the mineral industry's
challenge to the Government of Ontario: to re-establish the
climate proven to have been so successful in its past history when
it promoted development of the northern frontiers which led to
additional diversified spin-offs in other natural resources.
It is of the utmost importance to reflect on the historic
significance of gold mining to the economy and stability of the
province. When the 1929 economic depression struck, the
Procupine/Kirkland Lake gold mines provided an anchor which
shielded Ontario from the full severity of these destructive
ensuing years. In 1939, with the outbreak of World War II, mining
supplied Canada and Ontario's need for gold to finance its war
purchases from abroad. A continuing anchor in the years ahead may
be Ontario's Heralo and Detour areas, major new gold districts
which may challenge the record of the Porcupine/Kirkland Lake
district as their full potential unfolds in yet another time of
world financial stress and unemployment. As the old Chinese
proverb signals: "Gold is tested by five, man by gold".
Little is known about mineral reserves or real potential in
this vast territorial one-half of Ontario's land area (543,900
square kilometres) lying north of the 50th parallel of latitude.
While it is composed of bedrock assemblages which are known to
host economic mineral deposits as can be found in the districts of
Red Lake, Pickle Lake, Uchi Lake, Sachigo Lake, Confederation Lake
and Favourable Lake, the area's true full mineral potential is
simply unidentified. The area is bounded by the CNR railway line
in the south, Hudson Bay and James Bay across the north, Manitoba
along its west and Quebec along its east flanks.
Ontario is built on a foundation of Precambrian rocks which
form one major craton, or platform (commonly known geologically as
the "Superior Province", pre-2500 million years of age), occupying
the central part of the Canadian Shield from longitude 68°W to
longitude 96°W. It is composed of intensely deformed and
metamorphosed sedimentry and volcanic rocks and granite intrusions
occupying a central position, all of which encircle and underlay a
most predominant geographical feature — the waters of the Hudson
and James Bays. A thick flat-lying strata, Phanerozoic sediments
(sandstones, limestone and shales) form the floor of the two bays,
geologically referred to as the Hudson Platform. They extend
south into the shore lowlands for 322.6 kilometres, overlaying the
Precambrian in the Hudson Bay basin.
The region under study north of the 50th parallel straddles
the two main bedrock assemblages mentioned — the Precambrian and
the Phanerozoic. Both of these are mantled by varying thicknesses
of geologically young, unconsolidated deposits — gravel, sand,
Mining
6-2
silt and clay sediments, and heterogeneous materials — laid down
during the last ice age and afterwards.
The Precambrtan Shield underlies the central and western
parts of Ontario north of the 50th parallel. This is an area of
rolling terrain, at places quite rugged such as the Sachigo Hills
at the 54th parallel which rise 360 metres above sea level. Where
the overburden within this area is moderate to shallow,
prospecting and exploration has uncovered several significant
occurrences of precious metals and metallic minerals.
The Lowlands region is underlain by the more recent
Phanerozoic rocks, which in turn overlie the Precambrian in two
main basins, separated by the Cape Henrietta Maria arch. Over
most of this arch, the Phanerozoic layer is thinner than in the
basins and Precambrian rocks protrude above the general surface of
the Lowlands at a few places — notably by the Sutton Hills which
rise to 260 metres above sea level.
The Precambrian rocks immediately south of the Hudson
platform are significant, having proven to host a great diversity
of economic mineral riches. Centering on Cobalt, the great silver
discovery of 1903, and within a radius of 240 kilometres from its
hub, there are located the remarkable mining districts of
Porcupine/Timmins , Kirkland Lake, Gowganda, Larder Lake, Temagami,
Sudbury and Elliot Lake; and in Quebec — Noranda/Rouyn, Malartic,
Val-d-'Or and Temagami. Collectively, this historic mining area
produces new wealth in silver, gold, nickel, copper, platinum,
zinc and uranium. Within the same geological area, a new mineral
district of consequence unfolds 300 kilometres north of Cobalt —
the "Detour" area — at the edges of the Lowlands.
This entire area demands continued geological input, as well
as expanded research and development to gain more information on
this vital region that is home to many polymetallic as well as
precious metal mineral deposits and, unquestionably, other
unidentified potential.
MINERALS - SEARCH, DISCOVERY AND TECHNOLOGY
Of all of our planet's natural resources, minerals are with-
out question the most unique. Emanating from the bowels of the
earth, held captive by the earth's crust and further hooded from
sight and exposure by a mantle of unconsolidated deposits,
minerals in their various forms command all the ingenuity,
persistence, determination, experience, wisdom and expanding tech-
nology of man to unravel the mysteries of this ever-challenging
resource. Nature, the Creator or whatever, has an exasperating
tendency to tease, confuse and contradict assumptions as it
proceeds to guard and withhold its mineral secrets.
Unlike the farmer, the miner cannot create a new deposit in
mined-out areas to compare with the growing of a new crop to
replace the annual harvest; unlike the fisherman, the miner cannot
return to the same banks; and, unlike the forester, the miner
cannot rotate around a perpetual forest. No, the miner is
different! He has no option to rotate around a renewing resource.
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He is of the engineering science, a specialty in the true sense of
the word, and administration of his industry has no place in a
catch-can government box where his science is not fully understood
and recognized. The innovation and entrepreneurship of mining
personnel is a force that probes the earth's crust to discover and
expose the new resources for productive use. The miner must
annually recharge his enthusiasm to continue the search for new
mineral deposits and negate any disappointment of year past.
Fortified by natural enthusiasm, experience, knowledge, expectancy
and progressive technology available, the miner renews his search
for ore deposits well aware that ore is where you find it and only
persistence and dedication can spell fortuity (and lady luck,
somehow, may become involved).
To each belongs a talent.
Precious is the prospector' s delight
when he, in success, can add a
dimension to Ontario's future!
HISTORY
The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed across Ontario in
1884, following a route along the north shore of Georgian Bay
through Sudbury and on north of Lake Superior to Fort William and
thence westward through Ignace and Kenora to Winnipeg. While
nickel mineralization had been recognized by Government geologist
Alexander Murray in 1856, it took construction of the railway
through the area before any serious attention was given to the
presence of copper and nickel mineralization that was to open up
the greatest nickel deposit in the world. As the story goes, some
Americans were developing an iron deposit to the southeast of
Sudbury and had built a railway to transport the ore when they
found the iron unsaleable due to excessive sulphur content.
Shocked by their losses, the principal of the group contacted the
general manager of the C.P.R. in whose offices he showed some
samples of rock from a rockcut west of Sudbury. The end result
saw the opening of mines at Copper Cliff and Stobie in 1885.
Subsequently, the great nickel/copper mines of the Sudbury Basin
were defined, developed and brought to production by INCO Ltd. and
Falconbridge Ltd. whose exploration and development programs of
the Basin continue.
The completion of the National Transcontinental Railway (now
Canadian National) in 1914, opened a continuous rail route in the
area of the 50th parallel. The railways marked the beginnings of
overland east-west transportation and the establishment of new
communities along the route.
The silver mines of Cobalt, discovered while constructing the
Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, not only excited the
nation but set going Ontario's mining industry and firmly laid the
foundation for a strong mining fraternity of prospectors, applied
and economic geologists and engineers whose exploits fill the
annals of Canadian mining. Their early exploits were indeed
heightened through their remarkable foresight and wisdom in the
midst of early success to survey the future and recognize the
Immediate and imperative need to fulfill the curiosity of northern
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youth in the future potential of this new and formidable industry
that was releasing a basic flow of wealth into Ontario's economy.
In 1912, they initiated and supported the introduction of special
classes in mining studies at the new Haileybury High School.
Located at the heart of the action, where the science was being
applied, their students wound up in the Cobalt silver camp eight
kilometres to the south. Mining companies and the fraternity were
determined to expand the mining studies and equipped a separate
centre of mining instruction and technology, and again expanded in
1929. Today Ontario is rightfully proud of the Haileybury School
of Mines and its ongoing graduate stream.
Unfortunately for Ontarians, as new high schools were
progressively opened in the north and northwest, the Ministry of
Education failed to recognize the wisdom, impact and success of
the Haileybury example and implement studies conducive to the
region's resources such as mining, forestry, commercial fishing
and trapping. Crucial to the development process across the
frontier is an educational system which relates to the natural
resources of the region. While northern schools continue to
recommend more curriculum studies relevant to their area,
theoreticians resident elsewhere continue to rule.
The impact of Cobalt (silver production rose in 1911 to
31,507,191 ounces) was all encompassing to the point of finance.
The source of new capital, originating out of mining activity went
forward to grubstake prospectors and finance developers,
re-investing in the future of mining.
Out of Cobalt moved these experienced, practical prospectors
geologists and engineers (1906-11) in fresh waves of search and
discovery to reach high points of success and a torrent of
discoveries and development in what was to become the fabulous
gold belts of Porcupine (Timmins) and Kirkland Lake. These
successful efforts quickly established Canada as the world's
second largest producer of gold, (an honor Ontario, if a nation,
could have claimed).
Spurred on with finances supplied by their own industry, and
the successes in the Porcupine/Kirkland Lake and northwestern
Quebec camps the wave of prospectors rolled with momentum to the
north and westward along the National railway to the Patricia area
and by canoe and dog team to Red Lake where the Howey mine led the
trail. This discovery over 160 kilometres from the steel
precipitated the advent of air transportation in the 1920 's.
Other prospectors found success along the shield in Little
Long Lac, Geraldton and Beardmore. With the expansion of air
transportation manned by similarly enthusiastic bush pilots, it
became possible to reach deeper and deeper into the frontier to
points such as Central Patricia, Pickle Crow, Favourable Lake,
Sachigo, Confederation Lake and Uchi.
The prospector with his pick and canoe was first to pierce
Ontario north of the 50th parallel. He was in search of "gold",
that most favored mineral whose market took everything you could
produce, and the refined product did not require a railway or road
to get it to market. Nevertheless his interest did not rest
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there, as he took note of all rook formations and recorded any
base metal mineralization present, as well as the tree species and
quality of the surrounding forest, the fish common to the waters
he travelled and the wildlife and waterfowl present. When you
left the railway towns, mining was responsible for building the
new northern communities, many of which today have become service
centres, transportation corridors and the hub of a more
diversified economy by accommodating other resource industries
such as tourism and logging.
THE IMPACT OF THE MINING INDUSTRY ON ONTARIO'S ECONOMY
Canada is the world's largest per capita mineral exporting
nation while Ontario is the largest producer of metallic minerals
in Canada and the second largest mineral producing province.
The Ontario mining industry in 1984 employed directly
approximately 28,000 people, created $4.4-billion in wealth, being
one of the few enterprises to release a basic flow of new wealth
into the economy. The industry's annual direct costs include
approximately $I-billion in wages and salaries, $350-million for
fuel and electricity and $530-million for process supplies.
Excluding corporate taxes, the province received mining revenue in
the amount of $31 .9-million in 1984; ( $160.5-million in 1981).
Ontario's primary mining industry enhanced the basic strength
and material well-being of the province by creating new wealth
(money) in gold/silver and by producing a diversity of metallic
minerals which effectively positioned Ontario to initiate and
expand as the leading manufacturing province in Canada in primary
metal industries, metal fabricating industries, transportation
equipment industries and electrical products industries, that
collectively employed 307,196 people in 1981 and produced a value
of shipments of goods (of own manufacture) totalling $42,455-
billion with value added of $16.815-billion for a gross of
$59.270-billion.
EXPLORATION
The mining industry must maintain its search for new mineral
resources to survive. The immensity of the industry's annual
input is illustrated by their exploration bill for year 1983
that totalled $171-miilion in Ontario alone. It is noteworthy to
recognize the immensity of this exploration bill which means an
investment of almost one-half million dollars a day every day
during 1983, or $20 for every man, woman and child in the province
for the year. No other industry undertakes chance investments of
such proportions in search of its resource. The fact that being
involved in the biggest game of blind man's bluff has, from time
to time, paid off in unpredictable but impressive discoveries,
does not alter its essentially risky character.
An example of such risk is to be found in Pickle Lake, 320
kilometres north of Ignace , a thriving community that came into
being in the early 1930 's. Here, two major producers — Central
Patricia and Pickle Crow gold mines — were steady producers of
gold until Central Patricia closed in 1950 and Pickle Crow in
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1967. The community then became a transportation centre and
exploration for new mineral resources was increased. In 1974,
Union Miniere Explorations and Mining Corporation (UMEX) announced
it would open a copper mine at Pickle Lake. In 1976, Umex (the
Thierry Mine) was brought to production at a cost of $110-million
with 330 employees. The company proceeded to provide modern
housing and build 94 new homes, two apartment complexes and a
trailer court accommodating 45 units.
Unfortunately the price of copper dropped and, in early 1982,
the company, having suffered accumulated losses of some $65
million, was forced to close and put the mine and new townsite in
wraps to await an improvement in the price for their product.
A community experienced in the land of hard knocks, Pickle
Lake today is vibrant with prospectors and development projects
centering on gold, determined their town will prosper again, as
every indication of success continues to unfold through new finds
in the area.
Currently, the industry, led by long-established Canadian-
owned mining companies, has committed between $750-million and $1-
billion to mine development and mill construction in Ontario.
It exemplies how mining continues to lead the way in northern
development by their programs at Detour Lake, Heralo, Opapimiskan
Lake, Pickle Lake, Sturgeon Lake and Cameron Lake, thereby
expanding Ontario's golden horseshoe while extrapolating extended
geological knowledge into the mysteries of the science.
The breadth of the industry's further impact on Ontario's
economy is set out in the following quotation from the Ministry of
Natural Resources, Mineral Resources branch paper The Role of
Mining in Ontario's Economy ; "Metal rrtining , smelting , refining
are the most highly value productive of all of Ontario's major
goods producing industries. The value added on average per worker
per year, for metal mining, smelting and refining (total activity)
is approximately 30 per cent higher than the average for all
workers in Ontario's industries. The value productivity per
worker, for total metal mining (excluding smelting and refining)
is about 90 per cent higher than the average per employee per
year, for all workers in Ontario. (Clearly, more wealth is
created by a miner than by a smelter or refinery worker.)
Comparing this with specific other industry sectors, value
productivity for total metal mining is 150 per cent higher than
for textile workers, 66 per cent higher than for food and beverage
workers, 98 per cent higher than for workers in the machinery
industries; and, in comparison iHth the relatively higher value
productive industries, metal mining is 44 per cent more value
productive than the transportation equipment industry and 58 per
cent more productive than chemical and chemical products
industry,
"Looking at value productivities of the other indigenous factor of
production, i.e. land, the value produced per acre per year for
all Ontario mining is over 155 times as high as the value produced
per acre per year for Ontario agriculture ; this figure ranges from
a multiple of about 32 if compared with wheat, down to a multiple
Mining
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of about 40 compared with fruit. Compared with the Ontario
forestry industry y the value productivity per acre of mining is
about 7 ,000 times as much. These figures should be viewed in
light of the fact that the area directly affected by mining in
Ontario is only about six per cent of the area taken up by all of
Ontario' s roads and highways,
"In terms of wealth creation and of the material welfare of
the Province then the mineral sector contributes more on any sig-
nificant input basis than any other sector of the Ontario economy.
This means that a job created in metal mining, makes us all richer
than a job created in any other industry and a job transferred
from metal mining to any other industry makes us all poorer."
Mining is an industry that has played a formidable part in
strengthening Ontario's economic position, has always paid its way
and received little assistance from the taxpayers to maintain its
health and expansion. Unfortunately, the mining industry lost its
core position and recognition of its ongoing importance to
Ontario within the Government of Ontario following the decision to
abolish the world-respected Ministry of Mines. Mining is now
included within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural
Resources along with forestry, parks, outdoor recreation,
commercial fishing and trapping, a group of associates whose
concerns differ greatly from those of the mining industry.
MINING AND GOVERNMENT
I have found from those involved in the mining industry that
apprehension has developed with respect to the relationship
between the mining industry and Government. They maintain that
the amalgamation of the former Ministry of Mines has proven
unsatisfactory. The mining industry believes it has been left
without a minister to champion its respectful and earned place at
the planning table in Cabinet. I have come to believe this is to
the detriment of the province and the industry, particularly its
prospectors, developers and operators who have been left on their
own in an intolerable situation.
The industry cannot help but reflect on the progress, success
and confidence it achieved in dealing with its urgent priorities
under its own Ministry, when specialized staff in the field and
Ministry's main office provided a uniform knowledgable service to
the industry and the public. Therefore, I believe the industry
should once again have its own minister present in Cabinet to
uphold both the industry's need to maintain mobility and the
province's need to sustain the manufacturing industries which have
grown out of mineral production.
6.1 Recommendation ;
That the Government of Ontario recognize the full importance
of the mining industry to its economy and the future welfare
of Ontario by reinstituting the Ministry of Mines.
A highly unreasoned distortion of judgment has developed in
the province whereby the prospector/entrepreneur, who set the pace
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6-8
of Ontario's remarkable history in mining, is subjected to
bureaucratic regulations with unending changes that restrict his
normal options to raise money to undertake his exploration work or
develop a mine (to the point of eliminating the junior mining
industry and its speculative spirit). A prime example for Ontario
is the now famous Hemlo camp where the prospectors had to resort
to the Vancouver Stock Exchange to raise the funds necessary for
their gold finds.
Mining is an individual engineering science industry dealing
initially with sub-surface resources, highly dependent upon
search, research, on-going experience and application to improve
mining methods, and to advance the science in engineering,
geology, rock mechanics, metal uses and world markets, and whose
interests do not simply rest as producers of raw materials. Its
natural affinity and interest lie with engineering manufacturing
industries that use metal products, such as steel mills,
machinery, electrical, transportation equipment and instruments,
(which industries must maintain continuing research to develop new
alloys to better serve the demands of changing needs). The raining
industry must always be fully cognizant of these changes and to do
so must keep posted and be involved with the engineering
industries' research to understand and fulfill the raining
industry's need to become raore flexible in responding to changes
in the demands for metals.
To keep Ontario's manufacturing engineering industries strong
and competitive, the province must assess its priorities, and
idenify clearly the place mining is expected to play in main-
taining Ontario's leadership and define government's commitment to
promote its expansion. The world is moving to new needs for
strategic minerals such as chromiura, cobalt, tungsten and
vanadium, as well as for new space age metals such as germanium,
columbiura, tantalum, titanium, yttrium, gladolinium, which
clearly indicates the industry of raining has no sunset.
Ontario's mining industry has established a fine record in
its coramitraent to improvements in the efficiency and economy of
the industry through the principles of human relations (including
building communities and services for the people in remote areas),
technology, applied environmental protection and the careful
extraction of the resource with particular attention to mine
safety practices and mining methods that substitute machines for
human muscle and reduce hazards at the workplace through
automation and remote control. The industry's research into rock
bursts and rock structures, delving into highly variable rock
compositions (their strengths and weaknesses) that are often
difficult to predict, is imperative research in which the
Government should become deeply involved coupled with
international research, as an ongoing necessary commitment to more
safely guide and control mining,
6.2 Recommendation:
That in order to advance the rate of mine exploration and
development in the north of Ontario, the Ministry of Mines
increase its geological and technical staff to undertake
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innovative research, mapping, geo-chemical testing, airborne
geophysics and diamond drilling.
6.3 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Mines continue to support research on
rock bursts and rock mechanics in coordination with similar
research underway in other countries to improve the ability
to predict unsafe rock conditions in mines and enchance safe
ore recovery in mining incompetent rock structures.
6.4 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Mines review the appropriateness of
existing taxes Imposed on the mining industry and recommend
reforms which would encourage greater exploration and
development in Ontario.
MINING AND THE ENVIRONMENT
While I have outlined the effects of mining activities on the
environment in Chapter 3, I would stress that what should be done
to protect the environment is to be judged with reference to what
is known to be technically feasible, practical and economically
reasonable. The starting point in any new project area is the
best existing technology.
It is recognized that raining as an industrial sector, an
economic growth engine, has by its needs of nature the potential
to abuse the environment, and therefore recognizes that its
activities must be controlled as closely as that for any other
potential polluter.
The first guardians of the environment are the people. In
the case of raining, the location of the economic mineral find
dictates where the mining plant is built. The industry has had
the responsibility of building the housing and services for its
employees. Located in remote areas, social and recreational life
is built around the natural surround, the lakes, rivers and forest
which provide both recreation and food supplement. Therefore, in
those areas the industry is immediately cautioned by the people if
any pollution from the operations are noted. As a result, the
mining industry appears to have developed a real awareness for
environmental protection.
Ontario is endowed with precious, enviable resources of fresh
water lakes, fresh flowing rivers and streams. The fact that
Ontario has command of a major proportion of Canada's waters
brings responsibilities to Ontarians, requiring a mature outlook
demanding effective, constant water control standards throughout
the entire province.
The Government has exemplified its awareness of the need to
maintain water quality, particularly during the last 10 years, in
the north by investing large sums to fund improvements and
construction of new sewer and water facilities in many northern
towns and municipalities.
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As yet there have not been any major environmental catastro-
phies documented in the northern region under study which could be
attributed to mining activities. However, I have heard members of
the raining community admit that some adverse environmental impacts
have been associated with the industry in the past. However, from
the evidence received by this Commission, the mining sector can be
generally applauded for its efforts of the past 20 years to avert
adverse environmental impacts. It is most assuring when senior
mining executives demonstrate their awareness of the needs to
protect the environment and waterways by their preparedness to
make the expenditures necessary to do so.
Upon the Government's introduction of the Environmental
Assessment Act of 1975, the Ontario Mining Association on behalf
of its members indicated in its submission that the Association:
"... supports the present Environmental Assessment Act . The
procedures as set out in the Act have been the normal procedures
in the mining industry in Ontario for some years now and have
proven highly effective." In doing so, the industry referred me
to the examples set by the Griffith mine located in Ear Falls in
the midst of the tourism area and Packwash Provincial Park, the
Inco mine at Shebandowan, the Mattabi mines at Sturgeon Lake, the
inactive Theirry mine in Pickle Lake, the inactive South Bay Mine
north of Ear Falls and the inactive Temagami copper mine located
on an island within a provincial park. Griffith Mine officials
told the Commission that "The current popular belief that
industry is not mindful or even neglectful of environmental
matters is unfounded and has been disproven at the Griffith
Mine . "
Over the past 30 years the Sudbury mines have invested vast
sums in research, new plants and prototypes to contain the sulphur
present in the nickel/copper ores, successfully reducing their S02
emissions between 65 and 82 per cent. Not resting on any laurels,
they continue to expend millions annually in efforts to capture
the remainder.
Finally, the successes of the mining industry's environmental
protection practices can largely be attributed to successful
preoperational planning and the installation of environmental
control technologies. As a result of public and political
pressures calling for the implementation of such measures, mining
companies have shown their support of environmental protection by
their willingness to assume increased economic costs to ensure
that their developments are publicly acceptable. They have
recognized that it is far easier to keep the people of the
development area informed and that it is cheaper to plan, install
and protect than to pay fines and try to correct later. Aside
from the improvement early action brings in public relations, such
action also reduces the chances of expensive delays in the
approvals process, and reduces the chance of having a project with
high economic potential being misunderstood or dismissed. Public
awareness is a new requisite of the times.
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6.5 Recommendation:
That any new mining reduction mill or expansions of
existing mills must incorporate the latest proven pollution
abatement technologies and techniques into the design of the
milling process.
I believe that mineral production will continue to be a
bulwark of Ontario's financial and manufacturing strength, and so
the search must continue. Given that the industry has no control
over location, special consideration in the matter of land use is
necessary. Whenever and wherever economic ores are found, serious
consideration should be given to their development. Mines do not
come easily!
Time has proven the stability of polymetallic mineral
deposits such as Sudbury, Kidd Creek, Manitouwadge, Sturgeon Lake
and South Bay across Ontario, even through depressed economic
times, which spells a clear warrant to effectively broaden our
information base in northern Ontario.
Ontario's formidable production of nickel, copper, uranium,
zinc, iron, silver, platinum, cobalt, etc. — those metals
presently in greatest demand for our domestic industrial plants
and the export market — play a dominant role in Canada's raining,
while providing the basic foundation to Ontario's engineering
industries such as metals, machinery, transportation equipment,
electrical and instruments.
Mining exploration across the vast area of Ontario north of
the 50th parallel is relegated to move at a slower pace due to the
area's remoteness involving greater costs for prospecting and
development; geological mapping is incomplete; heavy overburden
over much of the land resists effective penetration by modern
exploration technology. Nevertheless, the mining industry is
confident that many viable ore deposits remain to be discovered as
research improves exploration techniques and further mapping is
completed.
Optimism is the byword of the mining industry, noting that it
took 50 years and the advance of geophysical instrumentations and
technology to successfully penetrate overburden and discover major
unidentified polymetallic mineral deposits as Manitouwadge, Kidd
Creek, South Bay and Sturgeon Lake. Notwithstanding a highway
through the area, it took 60 years of ongoing persistence and
investment in the Hemlo area, begun in the early 1920 's with the
first geological survey and mapping in 1931, for a break-through
into the sub-surface secrets of the area.
"It is the hour, while a vital resource industry' s assemblage
of wisdorrij expertise and entrepreneurial skills amongst those
involved in and associated directly with the industry remain high,
that Government must apprize the industry' s full impact and
relative importance to the economy as a whole, to proceed and
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define its future goals and expectations of vt , and at the same
time fully recognizing its own responsibiUtxes to mavntavn the
existing skill structure built and erect any necessary bracvng on
time to sustain this valuable bank of knowledge."
Mining
CHAPTER 7
TOURISM
Ontario's stature and personality originates from its
heritage of life's controlling and commanding element — water!
Ontario's water resources are considered to exceed those of any
other province, state or nation. Water defines Ontario's borders
and is displayed in hundreds of thousands of lakes, rivers and
streams within its boundaries. These waters expressively gave
Ontario its name which means "sparkling waters".
In nature, water has the ability to surround itself with
the forest, the home and habitat of all living things — fish,
waterfowl, birds, the ungalates (moose, deer and woodland
caribou), as well as other forms of animals and wildlife. Since
time immemorial, water has provided the means of transportation
and fixed the sites of industry, beginning with our pulp and paper
forest industry at our western border on Lake of the Woods, then
along the north shores of the Great Lakes to the industrial
heartland in southern Ontario.
When you move north to the 50th parallel, you recognize a
gradual change in the forest from the oak, walnut, birch, white
and red pine of the south to the boreal (northern) forest of
predominantly white and black spruce, jack pine, balsam and
deciduous species such as birch and poplar; a forest of smaller
sized trees but with the majesty retained. While you find the
northern forest is different, it nevertheless retains the natural
surround and elements for a healthy, creative tourism industry.
Readers of this report will recognize, how through actions
proposed by the Commission (mandated to study how development
north of 50 should proceed), the aesthetic wonders of Ontario's
north will still be there for our upcoming generations to enjoy
vacationing, hiking, canoeing, fishing and hunting, as well as for
thousands of tourists from across Canada and other countries who
wish to partake in the experiences and fulfillment to be found in
the Creator's handiwork.
In fulfilling the mandate of this Commission, I have been
governed by two overriding concerns: one is to find ways of
ensuring that development north of the 50th parallel, when it
occurs, proceeds in an orderly fashion, working in concert with
and not at the expense of the environment — including people; the
other is to explore various means of ensuring northerners are
involved effectively in decision-making on issues which affect
them. Such concerns must always be uppermost in our minds in
dealing with the key field of endeavor which I believe will
secure the economic future of the north - tourism.
The communities north of the 50th parallel consist of some 35
Indian reserves and settlements, divisional point towns built by
the Canadian National Railway, lumber towns and towns built by
the mining industry. In the case of towns built as a result of
these industries, the winds of change resulting from industrial
closures have forced most of thera to look for new opportunities.
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Significantly, tourism, a secure diversification abetted by
the awesome grandeur and aesthetic beauty of these locations and
surroundings — the forest and sparkling lakes and rivers — as
well as the new road systems tied into the Trans-Canada and
American highways, moved in to fill the void. The Government's
program of regionalizing administration in northern communities
has brought further stability to many of these towns, as have the
improvement and construction of airports across the north inluding
most Indian reserves.
Native people and other northerners north of 50 are under-
standably apprehensive that tourism could develop quickly without
adequate sensitivity to their circumstances and interests; that
most of the economic benefits will leak outside the region, while
the adverse social and cultural impacts will be borne within it.
This must and need not happen. Therefore, in response to
northerners' concerns and in recognition of the enormous impacts
possible through expansion of this crucial industry, I
commissioned a study on tourism which is being released in
conjunction with my final report and recommendations.
This five-volume study, entitled Tourism Development in
Ontario North of 50 , was undertaken to obtain an assessment of
opportunities available, a set of realistic alternatives for
tourism development and a view of tourism's place in the spectrum
of competing demands for the region's natural resources.
Specialized wilderness resource-based tourism — encompassing
angling, hunting, camping and travel — is clearly the most
appropriate type for the greater part of Ontario north of 50.
The inaccessibility of the north with its vast land, lakes
and rivers allows it to lay claim to being a true wilderness. At
the same time, it is a wilderness whose resources are limited by a
hostile climate which, for instance, yields a new forest only once
a century and which many northerners know only too well places
firm limits on its bounty of fish, fowl and wildlife. In the
south, resources seemingly renew themselves more effortlessly,
with speed and increased reliability, reaping the benefits of more
hospitable climates, longer and faster growing seasons.
While it is obvious some private investment has found a
profit base in forests in the north, the number who can anticipate
similar successful ventures in the future is seriously restricted.
Indeed, I question for how long such activities can continue
without their effects causing an intolerable impact on the lower
profit yield but more durable tourism industry in the region.
The greatest number of submissions presented at the
Commission's hearings covered tourism, recommending that this
industry — having the least unfavorable impact on the environment
— was the most acceptable industry for the north and recommended
it be treated as a priority. While conflicts with other major
industries such as mining, logging and subsistence gathering can
arise it is nevertheless possible they could co-exist. The mining
industry has already demonstrated in Shebandowan, Bruce Lake and
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7-3
Red Lake how well it can co-exist with tourism. Native subsis-
tence gathering is itself presently co-existing with native
tourism enterprises. Where logging projects respect the need to
protect the aesthetics of nature along the shores of our lakes and
rivers and around permanent tourism investments, successful
co-existence is in place.
Most of the visitors to the north are the clientele of the
tourism industry, some of whom complain about the disturbance to
the natural wilderness by other commercial activities. Tourism
operators and their staff are, in fact, the hosts for our visiting
public and I encourage them to speak with positiveness and pride
about how northern Ontario effectively meets the pressures of
resource multiple-use, which is being administered for the good of
northerners and the province as a whole.
A PREFERRED INDUSTRY
I regard tourism as a major enterprise having far-reaching
implications for social and economic development, resource alloca-
tion and management, and environmental protection in all parts of
Ontario north of 50. And, for several reasons, I consider it to
be a particularly appropriate enterprise for native people living
in communities beyond the reach of the present network of all-
season roads. The tourism sector clearly offers attractive
opportunities for new development in the far north, with prospects
for generating substantial income and employment for the people
who have every intention of continuing to live their lives there.
Tourism activities consume resources of the forest and stream, but
need not deplete the basic renewable biological stocks on which
they depend, provided those resources are managed according to
sound sustained-yield practices. I am further convinced that
tourism operations can co-exist over the long term with
traditional, community-based trapping, hunting and fishing
activities.
There are other reasons for tourism being the preferred
wide-spread commercial activity in the north. In many cases,
tourism has evolved successfully to become the north's survival
industry for former one-industry towns. Having a direct
relationship with nature, the forest, lakes and streams, it
requires responsible stewardship of the environment to maintain a
viable commercial activity as well as the resources which make it
possible. A well-managed tourism industry also can provide
continuing and long-term returns of revenues and employment.
I have looked at the other industries of the north and their
limitations are obvious. Most of the land north of 50 cannot
sustain a renewable forest operation, particularly in the Eastern
half which is affected by the colder weather originating out of
Hudson Bay and James Bay which projects as far south as the 51st
parallel. In the western half of the region north of the 50, the
area above the 52nd parallel also is affected by the arctic
weather originating out of these bays. The effects of these
climatic conditions, augmented by a thinner soil base, hinder
forest growth.
Tourism
7-4
Large hydro-electric projects appear unlikely since existing
power generation capacities greatly exceed projected demand over
the next several decades. Furthermore, hydro-electric development
on the northern rivers which flow through the flat lowlands risk
severe environmental damage by damming and flooding.
Mining, however, is localized in effect and is relatively
unpredictable. Being mainly a sub-surface operation, it places
minor demands on land-use and therefore can co-exist quite easily
with the tourism industry.
7.1 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario formally adopt the policy that
tourism be regarded as the priority commercial activity In
Ontario no^th of 50, particularly north of the 7th and 11th
baselines. 1
DESCRIPTION OF INDUSTRY, 1982
Facilities
Contrary to popular belief that the tourism industry is only
a limited venture in the north, the fact is that a wide variety of
tourism facilities already exist. While most are small in size,
compared with those offered in southern Ontario, they are varied
in the type of accommodation and activity being offered as well as
being spread throughout the vast northern region.
As of 1982, there were 318 individual travel, tourism and
sport camp enterprises in Ontario north of 50 — approximately 92
per cent of which were dependent primarily upon the tourist and
sportsman markets, the others being general accommodation such as
motels.
Exclusive of campgrounds and tent camp facilities, the group
of enterprises contained 2,411 units (cabins, hotel rooms, motel
units) having a capacity of 10,494 guests. These are markedly
concentrated in the south-western part of Ontario north of 50 as
can be seen on the accompanying map.
IThis boundary, which follows natural topographic divisions,
was set by the Ministry of Natural Resources to arrest further
non-native tourism development. It lies just south of the 52nd
parallel to a point north of Armstrong, then south to the Albany
River, east to the 85th parallel of longitude, then south to the
7th baseline (between the 50th and 51st parallels of lattitude)
then east to the Quebec border. (See Map)
Tourism
ONTARIO NORTH OF 50
7-6
TABLE 1
THE SCALE AND OWNERSHIP OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURIST
FACILITY PLANT IN ONTARIO NORTH OF 50, 1982
Indian
Owned/
Non-Indian Owned/
Operated/Managed
Operated/Managed
Total
Category
No.
%
No.
%
No.
A. Primarily Dependent on
Tourist and Sportsman
Markets
Enterprises
25
9
268
91
293
Facilities
Base Camps:
Operations
14
7
186
93
200
Units
74
5
1376
95
1450
Capacity
281
5
5866
95
6147
Outpost Camps: Cabin
Operations
31
7
431
93
462
Cabins
52
10
477
90
529
Capacity
243
8
2733
92
2976
Outpost Camps: Tent
Operations
2
4
55
96
57
Capacity
32
12
240
88
272
Campgrounds :
Operations
-
-
27
100
27
Sites
-
-
438
100
438
B. Primarily Oriented to
the Business Travel
and Local Social and
Entertainment Markets
Hotels and Motels:
Enterprises
3
12
22
88
25
Rooms and Units
15
3
44 7
97
462
Capacity
30
2
1341
98
1371
Source: Tourism Development in Ontario North of 50°, Volume Two, Tourist
Facility Development ; 1984, p. 26, prepared by
W.M. Baker for the Royal Commission on the Northern
Environment.
Touvxsm
7-7
About 81 per cent of the units and 87 per cent of the capacity was
primarily tourism and sportsman market oriented. Only six per
cent of the units with five per cent of the capacity are native
owned and operated and are located primarily to the north of the
Albany River and the 7th and 11th baselines.
There are 14 native-owned goose hunting camps in the Hudson
and James Bay region of Ontario north of 50. The only non-native
goose hunting camp is the Hannah Bay Camp owned by the Ontario
Northland Transportation Commission.
About a dozen individual native enterprises operated 33 sport
fishing camps in Ontario north of 50 in 1982. Some sport hunting
was conducted from these facilities, primarily for moose and black
bear, and most are located on the Canadian Shield to the north of
the Albany River in the central portion of Ontario north of 50.
In recent years, some interesting and encouraging native
owned and operated tourism-related accommodation and restaurant
facilities have been established such as the hotel-type accommo-
dation opened at Kashechewan and Attawapiskat in 1981. While
sportsmen and other tourists can be accommodated in these
facilities, the immediate main market is expected to be government
personnel, business travellers and research workers. At Fort
Hope, the local development corporation owns and operates a
six-room hotel for business travellers and supplies accommodation
to anglers and hunters in transit to sport camps.
Market Patterns
In the southwestern part of Ontario north of 50 that is
highway accessible, participation in sport activities (angling,
hunting, wilderness travel) is probably the main trip purpose for
about 75 per cent of Americans and 50 per cent of Canadians
vacationing in the area. The family holiday in which fishing,
hunting, camping and sightseeing are combined in varying
proportions is on the increase and probably represents the main
future market for this part of the area under examination by the
Commission. About 75 per cent of the guests of hunting and
fishing lodges are Americans.
In the native-operated facilities in the far northern
sections of Ontario north of 50, about 75 per cent of the
sportsmen also are Americans. Residents of the northeastern
(about 25 per cent) and north central (about 27 per cent) census
regions of the U.S.A. dominate. Canadians constitute 25 to 30
per cent of the market. The off-continent sportsman market
scarcely has been tapped.
Tour^8m
7-8
TABLE 2
PURPOSE OF VISITS TO FISHING AND HUNTING CAMPS IN NORTHERN
ONTARIO, 1977
Main Purpose of Trip
Americans
%
Canadians
%
Sport Activity
Fishing
Hunting
Wilderness Travel
84
A
4
34
15
6
Sub-Total
92
55
Family Vacation (some hunting & fishing)
Family Vacation (no fishing & hunting)
Camping/ Sightseeing
Other
No Response
10
2
1
1
1
28
14
3
4
TOTAL (Multiple Responses)
107
104
TABLE 3
ORIGIN OF GUESTS BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AT FISHING AND HUNTING
CAMPS IN NORTHERN ONTARIO, 197 7
Geographic Origins
of Guests
Ontario Tourism Administrative Districts
Cochrane/
Temiskaming
Thunder
Bay
Kenora
All
Northern
Ontario
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
N. Ontario
S. Ontario
Sub-Total Ontario
20
36
56
13
9
22
2
2
4
9
18
27
Other Canadian
Sub-Total Canadian
5
61
3
25
7
11
4
31
N.E. USA
N.C. USA
Other USA
Sub-Total USA
14
18
7
39
3
62
7
72
2
81
6
89
8
53
5
66
Other Countries
1
3
-
1
TOTAL
100
95
100
No Response
40
53
130
502
Source : Tourism Development In Ontario North of 50°, Volume Two,
Tourist Facility DevelopmenT ; 1984 , prepared by W.M. Baker for
the Royal Commission on the Northern Environment.
7-9
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
The Commission has not attempted to carry out what could only
be speculative cost/benefit analyses of economic impacts.
While far greater study would be required to accurately gauge
the local income impact of Indian sport fishing camps, it is safe
to say that the total impact is substantial and meaningful in a
community setting where there is limited investment income and
employment opportunities.
In non-native communities as well, the impact of tourism is
considerable, as the Town of Kapuskasing noted in its submission
to the Commission during the Timmins hearings: "Our future lies
in tourism. With energy costs escalating rapidly and with the
devaluation of the dollar, we will see more of our American
friends vacationing in this part of Ontario, The overall
investment in the tourist industry is comparatively less than for
other industry and provides a good return - it is our best bet for
the future in removing our total dependence on single resource
based industries."
The 1981 evaluation of the native-owned and operated Bug
River Fishing Camp on Big Trout Lake gives some idea of the
economic impact of such a facility. Total wages of $22,952 were
earned by Indian residents of Big Trout Lake. Payments to Indian
managers totalled $7,875 with guides earning $40/day for a total
wage bill of $14,725. In addition to tips and boat rentals, an
undetermined amount was spent in Big Trout Lake community for food
and other purchases.
Such wage payments have an enormous impact on communities
where employment opportunities are almost non-existent. And the
Ministry of Natural Resources has long recognized the even greater
employment and entrepreneurial opportunities — as well as local
economic advantages — which can flow from successful tourism
facilities when they are owned and operated by northern residents
and communities, particularly natives. Indeed, a policy has
existed which, with notable exceptions, has given natives priority
rights in developing tourism facilities north of the 7th and 11th
baselines.
The Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce made special
mention of the economic and employment opportunities possible for
northerners via an expansion of locally-owned tourism operations
when it made its presentation to us at the Kenora hearings: "In
our view, this industry probably provides us (Txr greatest future
potential. Tourism is an industry which provides the great
opportunity for individuals to develop small businesses which are
labor intensive and thus offer great employment opportunities".
While I would not seek to eliminate non-northern or
non-Ontarian ownership north of 50, I do adhere strongly to the
belief that local residents and communities should have
preferential opportunities to become involved in all tourism-
related entrepreneurship and employment.
Tour^8m
7-10
Tourism, as the preferred commercial activity, offers
particular potential for northern native residents where some of
the employment skills involved call upon the knowledge of
wilderness and wildlife which traditionally exists among northern
natives. Recognizing Indians' familiarity with the environment
and its related skills, there is no reason why they cannot become
developers and managers of tourism operations.
7.2 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario, and specifically the Ministry
of Natural Resources, affirm a policy giving priority rights
to residents north of 50 In the development of tourism
facilities north of the 7th and 11th baselines, with a
provision that Indians have first right of refusal for such
developments for a period of at least five years.
This then would mean that for many areas with tourism
potential, private tourism enterprises could be native owned and
controlled. As well, joint ventures or other ownership accepted
pursuant to resource development and management agreements
negotiated through the Northern Development Authority are
possible. This could allow a non-resident private tourism
enterprise adversely impacted by other activities to relocate
further north. I should note that among the non-resident
operators are a significant number of American owner/operators as
can be seen in the following table.
Touvxam
7-11
TABLE 4
AMERICAN OWNERSHIP OF TOURIST PLANT IN ONTARIO NORTH OF 50
1982
Base Plant
Outpost Camp Plant
MNR District
Entei
•prises
Units
Capacity
Number
Units
Capacit
No.
% (1)
No.
% (1)
No.
% (1)
No.
% (1)
No.
% (1)
No.
% (
Cochrane
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Dryden
10
33
86
36
389
40
1
10
1
10
5
7
Geraldton
1
6
7
6
40
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
Hearst
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ignace
2
22
7
13
44
18
1
50
1
50
6
55
Kapuskasing
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
Kenora
4
20
29
18
146
22
1
4
1
4
5
3
Moosonee
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Nipigon
1
14
2
6
10
5
4
7
8
13
32
9
Red Lake
28
40
205
41
890
44
26
23
30
26
196
28
Sioux Lookout
3
10
18
8
85
8
14
10
17
11
86
10
TOTAL
49
27
354
26
1,604
28
51
12
58
13
330
12
(1) Indicates American-owned percentage of total non-native plant.
Source : Tourism Development in Ontario North of 50°, Volume Two,
Tourist Facility Development ; 1984, prepared by W.M. Baker for
the Royal Commission on the Northern Environment.
Tourism
7-12
LAND TENURE
At this point I should explain the various types of land
tenure employed by the Ministry of Natural Resources in allocating
Crown lands for private use.
Patent: This is the most secure form of tenure with the land
completely alienated from the Crown. MNR is reluctant at
this time to issue patents for new tourist developments north
of 50.
Lease: Security of occupation and use is available for a terra of
10, 20 or 30 years but no tourist operation north of 50 has
applied for such an arrangement.
Licence of Occupation: This allows for occupation of land for as
long as MNR has no need for it and presumably could be in
force for centuries. Again, no tourist operators have
requested it.
Letter of Authority: Providing temporary use of a site for the
purpose of resource extraction, this arrangement is widely
used by highway construction companies but not the tourism
industry.
Land Use Permit: The foundation of the sport camp industry across
northern Ontario, these permits must be renewed annually and
can be cancelled for a number of reasons including non-
compliance with conditions or the Government's need of the
land. Used for both tent camps (which are removed at the end
of the season) and permanent camps (which remain on site),
the permits are issued based on the capacity of a water body
to support a sport angling facility or the land for a hunting
operation.
It is the Commission's belief that security of land tenure
north of 50 is extremely limited and, as such, poses a
disincentive for expansion of existing tourist operations and the
establishment of new, first-class tourism investments in the
future.
If we are serious about the impact of this industry on the
the future of the north, the current system of tenure must change
to give operators a more secure land base. Long-term land
security is necessary not only to encourage individual initiative
to develop and expand, but also to provide the operators with
sound collateral and secure prospects as they, like all other
entrepreneurs, seek out financial assistance from both banks and
private investors.
I believe that the test of a new business occurs within the
first three years and, in that time, it is possible to assess the
strength of an operator's commitment and the viability of his/her
venture.
Tourtam
7-13
7.3 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario Implement a policy so that,
following operation for three years on land use permit,
tourist operators north of 50 be permitted to apply for a
land patent from HNR based on proof of the operator's commit-
ment to his/her business and its financial viability for the
future.
TOURIST MANAGEMENT AREAS
As I envision the expansion of northern tourism operations,
I cannot help but be struck by the need for detailed organization
if this Industry is to find its rightful and dominant place in the
north. For this reason I have compared the general structure of
the forest industry — from government relations to the establish-
ment of forest management agreements (FMAs) - to the less formally
structured tourism sector.
FMAs, which are explained in detail in the forestry section
of this report, take the form of a contract arrangement between
the province as represented by the Minister of Natural Resources
and a forestry company to attempt to achieve the following
objectives: first, to ensure forests are harvested in an
efficient manner and, second, to provide a continuous wood
supply.
Companies are obliged to provide detail on their oroposed
operations which assure the Government that appropriate steps will
be taken with regard to reforestation and the selection of access
routes. Compensation to the company for the withdrawal of
productive forest lands from the FMA at a future date for any
reason is a Government obligation under the agreement.
My comparison judged the adaptability of the FMA concept to
the tourism industry. The appeal of adopting such a structure was
that rather than going through a potentially lengthy effort to
introduce a totally new concept, Tourist Management Areas (TMAs)
would be based on a familiar policy. In addition, the tourism
sector is in serious difficulties as a result of conflicts with
the forest industry in many locations in northern Ontario partly
— but not exclusively — as a result of the introduction of the
FMA concept. Where a FMA exists, forestry becomes the overriding
concern and therefore the dominant industry, leaving tourist
operators in the virtually ignored spot of second place.
Therefore, a similar approach for the tourism industry seems
appropriate.
The Tourist Management Area concept provides an approach —
or tool — that will give the industry the security and stability
of supply. It also encourages an adequate information flow and
the consistency of resource management decision-making by the
Ministry of Natural Resources needed to encourage, maintain and
increase private investment — thereby generating badly needed
income and employment opportunities. It also provides a forum for
discussion by bridging the gap between the Government and the
industry.
Tourism
7-1^
7.4 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario adopt a policy of Tourist
Management Areas and Agreements similar to those used for the
forest industry, to allow for a more organized, progressive
and co-operative approach to tourism development north of
50.
In dealing with such a unique area as Ontario north of 50, it
is important to note its two distinct tourism areas and
operational focuses which lead me to recommend that the area be
divided into at least two distinct Tourist Management Areas.
Slightly less than one-third of the area takes in the
southern portion which I refer to as the transitional north.
Here, tourism operations are longer established than further north
with permanent hotel, motel, cabin and lodge accommodation. To a
large extent, the facilities cater to families and vacationers
whose trip purpose is not solely fishing or hunting.
By far, the largest portion of the region - and the one to
which my recommnendations are mainly aimed - is that which I refer
to as the remote north. Tourism here is geared to remote
wilderness hunting and sport fishing activities where access to
camps is mainly via charter aircraft and family vacationers are
almost non-existent. Indian ownership is dominant here while
non-native operators are concentrated in the southern region.
7.5 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources take immediate steps
to recognize the diversity of northern tourism operations by
dividing and treating Ontario north of the 7th and 11th
baselines into at least two separate and distinct Tourist
Management Areas.
TOURIST MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS
In the case of the Tourist Management Agreement, there would
be a formal agreement between the province and a tourist
operators' association, the establishment of which 1 recommend
(7.13) later in this chapter. Perhaps a more practical option
would be to introduce the TMA concept as a formal policy statement
of government values, objectives, operating principles and
strategies for the preservation, enhancement and allocation of the
natural resources of a designated TMA. However, in the remote
north, it is felt that a formal agreement with a tourism
association is desirable and practical. Such an agreement would
introduce an element of consistency I believe remote northern
operators would want in their dealings with the Government as well
as demonstrating the seriousness of the Government's commitment to
the TMA concept. In either case, the involvement of the resident
population in the introduction of the TMA would be essential.
Tourism
-^ii-
PLATE 5
nMTARIQ NORTH OF 50
7-16
The purpose of Tourist Management Agreements is to provide
policy acknowledgement of the status to be given tourism resources
and initiatives in future decision making. These agreements also
ensure Government policy is consistent in its commitment to the
preservation, enhancement and orderly allocation of tourism
development potentials — thereby inspiring confidence in private
investors.
Statement of Operating Principles
The operating principles of the agreement reach to the heart
of the social and economic value structure of the province and
profoundly affect the interaction between Government and the resi-
dent population in the development and implementation of strate-
gies for resource management in the TMA. Operating principles of
TMAs are recommended as follows:
7.6 RecoDunendation:
That experienced professional staff available to the Ministry
of Natural Resources be employed in the development and
management of all aspects of the TMA. It Is Important to
ensure the TMA program is not pushed into an administrative
"backwater" with inadequate professional resources.
7.7 Recommendation:
That public participation be treated as a vital component of
any TMA decision-making process.
7.8 Recommendation:
That compensation be provided whenever private commercial
tourism operations are adversely affected by other resource
users.
7.9 Recommendation:
That responsibilities and obligations of private tourism
developers as stipulated in land and water leases, permits,
and agreements for the use of resources, be met.
7.10 Recommendation :
That a record of information be developed and maintained for
each TMA to which the public will have ready access upon
demand .
These recommendations do not call for the establishment of a
new elaborate administrative apparatus nor the introduction of new
legislation. They simply provide for the recognition and accom-
modation of tourism values in resource management considerations.
Resource Management Components
Zoning
Providing a time frame of reference, zones would be desig-
nated within a TMA based on natural tourism potential and present
Touvism
7-17
tourism facility patterns. These zones would indicate the concen-
trations of potential for tourism development as well as providing
the basis for decisions on resource preservation, enhancement and
allocation.
Zone documents would indicate tourism priority areas by use
(e.g., remote sport fishing zone, moose hunting zone, wilderness
waterway zone). Information also would be prepared for each zone
indicating sustainable development potential (e.g., supportable
angling and hunting harvests); present development type and
scale; and unexploited capacity.
Shifts in the zones may be required to accommodate the
adverse impact of natural disasters such as fire, unexpected
revival of some fish or animal populations currently on the
decline, or the emergence of new forms of tourist demands for
which the area is suited.
Regional Integration
Integration strategies deal with multiple resource uses
within the TMA and its social and economic impact on the
surrounding communities. Included should be policies and
procedures dealing with such matters as:
1) periodic boundary adjustments in the TMA resulting from
local resource and area needs (e.g., new Indian
reserves) or changing economic development opportunities
(e.g., mining);
2) maximizing a TMA's benefits to the local economy through
priority hiring of local residents or supply purchasing
from local businesses;
3) integration of commercial and domestic renewable
resource uses (trapping, fishing, firewood harvesting)
so as not to prejudice the interests of the primary
tourism sector;
4) integration of provincial parks into TMA planning,
without compromising parks' policy.
Natural Resource Maintenance and Enhancement
A wide range of programs and activities, many now operated by
MNR, would be tailored to the TMA: e.g., fish stocking,
harvesting limits, habitat improvement, fire protection.
Resource Allocation
In addition to Recommendation 7.2, this component of the
agreement would ensure that a realistic set of terms and
procedures are established for allocating tourism development
potentials of TMAs. For example, consideration should be given to
restricting the transfer or sale of lease and land use permits
Tourism
7-18
granted to resident Indians to non-Indians for a period of 10
years or more to protect Indian interests.
Surveillance and Enforcement
The objectives of this component would be to ensure
compliance with the legislation and regulations associated with
the management of the TMA. To be specific, there should be:
surveillance of all resource uses and users in the TMA having
destructive impacts upon the resource foundations for tourism
development and operation; and enforced compliance with
legislation and regulations set forth for the TMA.
Research
Focused primarily upon the needs of management decision-
making, the research should employ the resident population with a
long-range objective of creating full-time positions within the
Ministry of Natural Resources. This research would: increase
knowldege of the extent and limits of the tourism resource
development potentials of the TMA; identify issues and problems
related to resource management; and evaluate management actions
currently in force.
TOURISM ASSOCIATIONS
For TMAs to be effective tools for future development,
greater organization also will be required within the ranks of
tourist operators themselves. These operators can serve their own
interests as well as the interests of all northern residents via
the selection of spokespersons - or lobby groups - who can speak
with the authority of all northerners likely to be affected by
Government policy rulings.
The tourism study commissioned by me, which I mentioned
earlier, dealt indepth with the issue of northern involvement in
policy making and the need for an organized effort on the part of
those operators to inform the various levels of Government as to
their views, needs and aspirations for both the short and long
term.
The study concluded, and I concur, that the future viability
of northern tourism and the desired preferential opportunities for
local residents and communities are possible via two courses of
action: the establishment of tourist management areas, as I have
already recommended, and the creation of a north of 50 tourism
association.
I believe that far greater advantages exist in the formation
of regional groups which could eventually find their way into a
provincial or even a national association. Regional groups offer
the particular appeal of speedy establishment and minimal
administration problems. More importantly, regions — even
relatively large ones — tend to have the same interests, problems
and issues. These similarities help to facilitate membership
recruitment and organization as well as the development of new
programs which have broad-based support.
Tourxsm
7-19
Among other tasks, these associations would be expected to:
1) represent and reflect membership interests in Government
decision-making processes for resource allocation and
management north of 50;
2) lobby for Government funding for new tourism initiatives;
3) support, supply, generate and demand — as required — the
research necessary to ensure a viable industry; and
4) promote and influence the scope of Government tourism
advertising.
It is my view that current and future Indian tourist
operators in the north are in far greater need of new organization
and formal government ties than are the white tourist operators.
White tourist operators already have an established co-ordinating
and lobbying group, the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters
Association. Without similar organization on their part, native
operators would remain without a unified voice to deal with
Government. In addition, formal ties with the provincial and
federal levels of Government, in particular, would facilitate the
establishment of group training programs. However, it would be
wrong to ignore the legitimate business interests of non-natives
in the north and their value to the northern economy as a whole.
In an effort to be solicitous of and fair to Ontario's original
inhabitants, it perhaps would be overzealous on my part were I to
suggest that membership in new tourism associations be restricted
to Indian residents north of 50. For these reasons, I would
recommend:
7.11 Recommendation:
That one or more regionally-organized North of 50 Tourism
Associations be established as quickly as possible to serve
northern tourism operators through a united voice directed at
natural resource management policy, as well as to allocation
and funding for various endeavours Including area and
regional planning studies.
7.12 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario encourage these tourism
associations by providing financial support in the designing,
testing. Implementing and marketing of tourism
activities.
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENTS
I have talked at some length about the need for the tourism
industry to organize itself not only into regional tourism
associations but also for the Ministry of Natural Resources to
introduce the concept of Tourist Management Areas into their
resource management procedures. I believe it is also imperative
for the various levels of governments — with their various
jurisdictions, programs and grants — to better organize their
Tourism
7-20
input to the industry, particularly as it applies to our original
inhabitants. Until we can put governments in touch with what is
occurring within their own offices and the offices of other
government levels, attempts to improve native tourism operations
will remain unco-ordinated , in some cases repetitive and in most
cases unsatisfactory to those who must function within the
confines of legislation set by all three levels — municipal,
provincial and federal.
In recent years about LI federal and provincial departments
and ministries have offered grants, loans and loan guarantees for
tourism facility and sportcamp development, expansion and
upgrading under approximately 35 individual programs. In
addition, several management and skill training programs have been
available. No precise total dollar value of the funding advanced
was obtained in the investigations of the Commission but it is
known that substantial sums have been involved in some cases.
For non-native operators, the most significant assistance has
come from the three loan programs of the Ontario Ministry of
Industry and Trade, administered by the Northern Ontario
Development Corporation — the Tourism Loan Program, the Ontario
Business Incentive Program and the Tourism Redevelopment Incentive
Program.
Loans and loan guarantees under the Small Business Loans Act
of the federal Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce and the
consulting services of the Federal Business Development Bank have
been decidedly secondary in comparison with the provincial
financial aid programs.
Native goose hunting camps, which form a significant part of
overall native tourism ventures, have been developed under
provisions of the federal-provincial Resources Development
Agreement (RDA) which has been in continuous operation since
1958.
As indicated earlier, considerable angling sportcamp
development has taken place in the Shield area of Ontario north
of 50, with money provided by the Department of Indian and
Northern Affairs under the Indian and Economic Development
Program. Considerable money, time and effort also was spent on
training programs to equip natives to manage these operations.
In addition, the various programs of the Canada Employment
and Immigration Commission have directed money to native and Metis
sportcamp development in Ontario north of 50.
While I applaud the various government efforts which have
helped spur northern native tourism ventures, I believe those
monies would produce even greater results if the necessary
co-ordination was in place — most particularly at the provincial
level — to avoid duplication of efforts and encourage
diversification among new tourism entrepreneurs.
What is also required is input from all three provincial
ministries involved in northern tourism in the development of
Tourism
7-21
policy, the review of application by developers and the issuance
of final approvals.
7.13 Recommendation:
That the Ministries of Natural Resources, Northern Affairs
and Tourism and Recreation co-ordinate input and decision
making regarding tourism policies and programs.
7.14 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation seek to establish
better communication ties with federal ministries with the
goal of eliminating duplication of tourism assistance
programs in Ontario north of 50.
Historic Resources
In discussing with northerners the potential for developing
historical sites and cultural resources as part of the tourism
future, I also became aware of their dissatisfaction with
government handling of artifacts and the current method of
reporting the findings of archeological research.
Frequently, materials collected are shipped to universities
and museums in large urban areas for further research and ultimate
storage and display in surroundings safe from fire and
deterioration, available for viewing by large numbers of people.
A contending point of view maintains that the artifacts should be
retained in the location where they are found so that they may
make their maximum contribution to the development of local
identity and pride, and to supply foundations for tourism with its
attendant beneficial economic impacts. At Fort Severn, the
residents are annoyed that artifacts removed from digs at
Churchill/Nieu Savanne and Fort Severn fur trade forts and posts
have not been returned to the community by the archaeology groups
or the universities involved.
7.15 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario ensures the results of
historic and archaeological research are transmitted to local
residents at the earliest possible date and that artifacts
are returned for display in the local areas to the maximum
degree consistent with their continued preservation.
FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
As I assessed tourism operations in Ontario north of 50, I
continued to encounter stumbling blocks which I attribute to two
problems: the lack of current research available; and a failure
on the part of Government to relay what information is available
to those people and groups with legitimate interests in the
field.
If, as I envisage, northern tourism continues to grow, there
are specific resource demands which will require further assess-
Touvism
7-22
ment. It must be kept in mind that we are dealing with a unique
environment with far stricter limitations and far different
demands than exist in the south. This is most readily evident in
the various fishing activities in the north: sport, subsistence
and commercial.
Fisheries Management
It stands to reason that should tourism activities continue
to grow, these additional demands on limited resources will
necessitate an independant review on the impact on fishing
resources. While commercial fishing remains a limited activity,
owing to the exceptional costs of preserving and transporting, one
assumes that any expansion of this activity — coupled with a
similar expansion in sport fishing — would create a conflict.
The Commission has concluded that the overall and long-term
benefits of tourism activities exceed the shorter terra and
potentially depletive effects of commercial fishing. However, I
leave it to the experts to examine a number of options: whether
commercial fishing should be banned totally; whether existing
commercial fisheries should be allowed to continue their
operations with or without limits on future expansion; or whether
a gradual phasing out should be done with commercial fishing
interests being converted into tourism-related enterprises. For
these reasons, up-to-date data are a must if such conflict is to
be resolved in the interests of both actvities.
Waterbodies presently utilized by the tourism industry in the
north or which may be allocated to the industry in the future have
to be managed on a sustained yield basis. The operators of
resorts, lodges or outpost camps must be secure in the knowldege
that the sport fish resource base on which they depend will
provide the quality of fishing necessary to satisfy the continuing
needs of the client group. As the Northern Ontario Tourist
Outfitters Association told the Commission, 98 per cent of all
American clients and 75 per cent of Canadian clients indicated in
a study that the quality of fishing and hunting was the most
important aspect of their vacation. The challenge will be to
maintain and enhance that necessary resource.
The fragility of the northern environment extends to fis.h
resources as well. Creel, minimum size and consumption limits
used elsewhere may not be appropriate for the north and may in
fact need to be selectively established, depending on the
productivity of each particular body of water. This concept may
include the establishment or designation of trophy sport fishing
lakes where anglers may only extract one trophy fish of a
particular species and all other fish of that species must be
returned to the water unharmed.
For the area north of 50, I believe that the designation of
certain lakes containing lake trout for trophy fishing only is
especially important. Lake trout are fragile fish, unable to
withstand the stresses imposed by man and his technology. In
fact, many of Ontario's lake trout fisheries are becoming more and
more dependent on hatchery-raised fish.
Tourism
7-23
In situations where it is difficult to establish or maintain
a sport fishery on a sustained yield basis, a fish stocking
program should be implemented. Consideration should also be
given, based on discussions with tourism operators, as to the
feasibility of a program to introduce new or exotic species of
fish to selected lakes to further enhance our sport fishing and
provide additional opportunities for the growth of our tourism
industry.
It has become apparent to me that there is a need for an
additional fish hatchery in northwestern Ontario to particularly
serve the area north of the 50th parallel, as the nearest hatchery
is east of Thunder Bay. I particularly refer to Ear Falls,
located at the headwaters of the English River, as a possible
ideal location which has a modern community with an overdeveloped
infrastructure built in anticipation of the proposed construction
of the Reed forest products complex, and which will be further
affected by the expectant closure of their main industry - the
Griffith Mine - in early 1986.
7.16 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario begin an immediate and
on-going assessment of the fisheries resource potential for
the major lakes and rivers north of 50 with a view to
allocating those resources on a sustained yield basis.
7.17 Recommendation:
That a provincial fish hatchery be established in the western
portion of Ontario north of 50, preferably in the Ear Falls
area where a modern community inf rastructre is in place, to
raise sport fish for restocking depleted lakes and to raise
new sport species for introduction into other northern lakes.
Tourism
7-24
mi
T^
'. >•
'J J
Photograph Courtesy of Northwest Explorer , Sioux Lookout
Wildlife Mangagement
Wildlife in northern Ontario — in particular woodland
caribou, moose and white-tailed deer — have been managed for
decades without reversing the decline in their numbers,
notwithstanding the controls placed on man and his hunting
activities.
The white-tailed deer, now virtually extinct above the 50th
parallel, were a plentiful, common species of ungalate which
roamed the north for five decades as far as the 55th parallel and
were particularly prolific from the 50th to above the 52nd. While
it is said that the white-tailed deer cannot tolerate snowfall
much over 51 centimetres, these observations are challenged by the
fact that this ungalate was present in the far north in large,
healthy numbers. The alarming decline in numbers did not occur
until the removal of the bounty on wolves in 1970. In the years
following, the number of white-tailed deer declined to the point
of extinction in this areas.
Flying across the north in the early 1930 's, it was not
uncommon to see the woodland caribou in herds of 100 or more near
lakes where they had bedded down at night for self-protection.
Tourism
7-25
Today it is a rare sight to see herds greater than 20 in the same
area, and generally they are no more than 10.
The lord of the forest — the mighty, majestic moose — was
also a common and exciting sight throughout the sunmiers all across
the north along rivers, streams and lake shores and in herds in
the boreal forest in the winter. Today, this has become a more
rare sight.
For their protein, the southern population of Ontario depends
upon domestically-raised steer, calf, lamb, hog and fowl.
Predators are quickly eliminated if they intrude on the rancher or
farmer's stock. In contrast, in the north, natives in particular
are dependent upon moose, caribou and deer. Yet uncontrolled wolf
packs and black bears (ravenous when leaving the winter lair)
continue to decimate these ungalates.
The Government of Sweden, alarmed by the serious decline in
their own moose numbers, moved to find the answers and assigned a
group of biologists for a period of three years to follow
continuously these ungalates — paying particular attention to
their diet through the seasons, their habitat, breeding, calving
and the impact on the animals by predators. They learned that
many of the cows gave birth to twin calves in their fourth and
fifth years, and some cows in their eighth year gave birth to
quadruplets. They also recorded that the predators of this
species were the wolf -packs and black bears in spring when leaving
their lairs. The pregnant cow, heavy with calf, was found to be
the most vulnerable; when it was taken, the result was the loss of
two to four calves as well. With the moose herd reduced to some
27,000 animals, the Government instituted hunting regulations
restricting the hunting of the cow moose and, at the same time, a
program to significantly increase the hunting of the wolf and
black bear. Today, Sweden's moose herd exceeds 500,000 animals
and their annual hunt averages 150,000 which rose to 162,000
in 1982 which approximated some 18.2 million kilograms of dressed
meat valued at $80-million.
Statistics for hunting in Ontario in 1982 (the last complete
figures available) show that there were 85,630 licensed resident
moose hunters and 3,060 non-resident hunters who collectively
hunted for 527,300 days and produced a moose harvest of 10,700;
that there were 91,750 licensed resident deer hunters and 560
non-resident hunters who participated in the hunt for a total of
503,200 days and a harvest of 11,960.
The expenditures for the moose and deer hunts compiled from
hunters surveyed by mail totalled $51 .34-million averaging $2,265
per animal taken and an average of $283 expended by each hunter.
When a country like Sweden with a land area of 411,406 square
kilometres can, through wildlife management, increase its moose
population from 27,000 to 500,000, it is important that Ontario,
whose land area north of the 50th parallel is 543,900 square
kilometres, should study its own situation with an eye toward the
future subsistence needs of the native people and the positive
implications it would have for the tourist industry.
Toupism
7-26
7.18 Recommendation
That the Government of Ontario direct an in-depth biological
study north of the 50th parallel on the moose, white-tailed
deer and woodland caribou population with particular
attention to predators and hunting to determine measures
necessary to increase the numbers of white-tailed deer, moose
and woodland caribou.
The Attwood River
Tourism
CHAPTER 8
PLANNING IN THE NORTH
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment is obliged
by its mandate to recommend improvements in the methods used to
reach decisions on northern development. In its reaction to Reed
Ltd.'s timber harvesting and mill proposals, mercury pollution in
the Wabigoon/English/Winnipeg system, and other large projects
being mooted across the north, the public insisted that
development patterns of the past and their adverse consequences
should not be replicated in the more-remote north and hence that
fundamental changes needed to be made in the way that decisions on
development are reached.
Development in the north will continue to depend mainly on
the use of natural resources. Pressures to use resources emanate
from two different sources and are in conflict. Outside markets
for industrial products are the force driving intensive
development into the southern part of Ontario north of 50. On
the other hand, northern communities, particularly native ones,
continue to rely on the same resources as a source of products for
subsistence and commerce. Clearly, decision making for northern
development must be the outcome of planning processes that can
reconcile these conflicting claims.
My Commission's interests in planning for resource-based
development in the north led me to evaluate two main complementary
approaches. One is a comprehensive approach for planning by
northern communities themselves with the objectives of affirming
their own development priorities. The other is the resource
planning process employed by the Ministry of Natural Resources for
the Crown lands under its jurisdiction in the north.
Many northerners still consider that the north has become an
economic colony of the south. They find that they have little
control over their own destinies and lack power to significantly
influence decisions about development made mainly in the south.
Native people, particularly, have become bewildered by the changes
that are overtaking their communities and that they feel powerless
to confront. If they and other northerners wish to gain greater
power in decision making, they must also exercise greater
responsibility for specifying their own development goals,
objectives and priorities in a positive and constructive manner.
And, if they are to do this, they must devise planning programs of
their own in which all northern interest groups having a stake in
northern development can take part. Chapter 10 in my report
deals with comprehensive community planning by northern native
communities in considerable detail.
Provincial §^overnraent agencies have carried out both
comprehensive and sectoral planning affecting the north.
Comprehensive planning spans and attempts to integrate the entire
spectrum of economic, social, cultural, natural environmental,
financial and administrative concerns relevant to decisions about
Planning
8-2
development and environmental protection. The Design for
Development program of the 1970 's was the Government's outstanding
though now moribund initiative to plan comprehensively for the
province and its regions from the perspective of the province.
But it had little to say about the remote northern half of
Ontario. On the other hand, many agencies of the Government
engage in sectoral planning affecting the north. Sectoral
planning by governments focuses more narrowly on specific
components of their overall responsibilities.
The Ministry of Natural Resources' land use planning was the
most massive sectoral planning program ever mounted in the north.
The program was well conceived, professionally executed and
governed by logical principles and procedures. But the Ministry
was not mandated or staffed to plan comprehensively, and its
reports for the north paid scant attention to the social,
economic, and natural environmental consequences of the
prescriptions that they advocated. Planning by the Ministry or
any other single agency will always have inherent limitations in
scope arising from the narrow range of responsibilities assigned
to it.
The fundamental issue surrounding planning by the Ministry of
Natural Resources had to do with the Ministry's ability to wield
great power over northern development while remaining largely
unaccountable for the consequences. The Ministry's program-
delivery activities can shape the future course of northern
development, which will continue to depend primarily on the use of
natural resources. The Ministry performs crucial roles of
custodian, allocator, manager and developer of the Crown lands
that comprise practically all of Ontario north of 50. Land use
planning by the Ministry has created a framework of objectives,
strategies and targets that gives direction and guidance to
decisions about the allocation and managment of natural resources.
Such decisions can have crucially important beneficial or harmful
consequences for the cultural, economic and natural environments
of the north. For these reasons, my Commissions 's programs of
research and public participation accorded a central place
to evaluating the conceptual underpinnings, principles, process,
research and public consultation methods, and products of the
Ministry's planning.
The Ministry's planning placed northerners on the defensive
for it was not carried out in a way that could balance concerns of
development and environmental protection or interests of
northerners and outsiders. The Environmental Assessment Act, 1975
was designed to effect reconciliation on such issues as these.
The Act establishes a planning and decision process that takes
into account, at an early stage, all possible environmental
effects of significant undertakings. Moreover, the Act can give
the public an avenue for involvement in decision-making and a
means of access to an accounting of how and why decisions are
reached. I strongly support the views expressed to me that the
future of the north depends to a great degree on the effective
application of environmental assessment to all proposed enter-
prises likely to have significant impacts and that environmental
Planning
3-3
mental assessment principles are an essential ingredient of good
resource planning.
My investigation of the Ministry of Natural Resources'
planning activities in the north devoted a great deal of attention
to the question of the applicability of the Act to the planning.
For most of this Commission's life, the Government affirmed and
reiterated that the Ministry's land use planning activities are
provincial Government activities that were to be dealt with under
the Environmental Assessment Act and that the plan for the West
Patricia area, in particular, would be subject to full individual
environmental assessment under the Act. This led me to be
optimistic that the good planning principles embedded in
environmental assessment would be strongly expressed in the
planning. In the end, they were not, with consequences that were
disastrous for the planning.
My conclusions and recommendations about planning for
resource allocation and resource management are based on six main
areas of evidence. First, Commission staff carried out a tech-
nical appraisal of the Ministry of Natural Resources' statements
about the underlying principles, intent, scope and methodology of
its own planning system, as set out in its publication Guidelines
for Land Use Planning, 1980 and various internal documents. The
second body of evidence was the substance of the plan documents
themselves, as they evolved from the relatively unsophisticated,
preliminary, regional strategic plans for northwestern Ontario and
Northeastern Ontario published during the raid-to-late 1970 's to
the much more comprehensive and polished regional strategic plans
and district guidelines of the past few years.
The third body of information was the outcome of my staff's
observation and evaluation of the Ministry's public involvement
program in the north. The fourth was an examination of the
changing relationship between the Ministry of Natural Resources
and the Ministry of the Environment in matters respecting the
desirability of applying environmental assessment principles to
planning for resource allocation and resource management. The
fifth body of evidence was the responses of the ministers and
staff of these two ministries to the letters 1 wrote to them and
to the questions I raised for them at formal public hearings. The
sixth, no less important than the others, was the comments and
recommendations made about planning and the applicability of
environmental assessment thereto by government officials, interest
groups and the public generally in written submissions and in oral
presentations at my hearings. As expected, these comments and
recommendations ranged from broad conceptual and methodological
matters to more parochial matters having to do with the likely
impacts of plan implementation on local areas and business
enterprises.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has spent years of time and
effort and millions of dollars of public money in carrying out its
land use planning across the north. Over the course of my
Commission's work, 1 have gained a great deal of respect for the
high motives underlying the planning, for the dedication and
competence of the planners, for the heightened awareness of issues
Planning
8-4
that has resulted from the Ministry's public involvement program,
and for the evident usefulness of the information assembled. Land
use planning across the north has many accomplishments to its
credit. And many of the criticisms that have been levelled
against it by the public and by me stem from limitations inherent
in the Ministry's mandate and hence beyond the Ministry's
control.
LAND USE PLANNING IN THE NORTH
Components of the Planning System
The Ministry of Natural Resources is not required by any
statute to create formal plans of any kind. The Ministry cannot
point to any single legislative authority for its land use
planning activities. Its planning process stems from policy
decisions made at Cabinet and ministerial levels rather than from
legal requirements.
The Ministry's corporate planning system for Ontario consists
of five interlocking subsystems: policy planning, land use
planning, resource management planning, work program planning, and
work program evaluation. The Commission's research, presented in
Appendix 14, has focused on land use planning and its relation-
ships with the policy planning and resource management planning
components of the system. It has sought to establish the point or
points at which the Environmental Assessment Act can be most
fruitfully applied in the cont inuum oT planning and
decision-making activities that these three subsystems embody.
The research has evaluated the planning principles, the planning
process, and the substance of the plan/ guideline documents
themselves, using as touchstones the Ministry of Natural
Resources ' Guidelines for Land Use Planning, 1980 and the Ministry
of the Environment's General Guidelines for the Preparation of
Environmental Assessments, 1981 .
Policy planning, which flows from the basic philosophical
presuppositions of government, answers the question of
"what", in the Ministry's words, "is to be achieved and
why"? Policy planning, as the first component in the planning
system, puts in place a policy framework for land use planning and
for the other subsystems that follow from it. Although the land
use planning process provides fcr modification of policy through
analysis, testing and perhaps public input, the extent to which
these can effect changes in fundamental policy thrust remains open
to serious question.
The Ministry defines a land use plan as "a document which
indicates how the Ministry plans to use Crown land and.. .intends
to influence the use of private land in achieving its objectives."
It states that the purpose of a land use plan is "to coordinate
the various Ministry programs , concerning the use of land, so that
conflicts and inefficiencies are avoided and all objectives are
met." The land use plans — now "guidelines" — provide a
spatial framework and direction for the formulation of resource
management plans for particular uses and areas.
Planning
8-5
The placing of resource management considerations largely
outside the domain of land use planning creates an arbitrary
distinction between ends (land use objectives) and means
(management), and thereby raises questions about the
appropriateness and attainability of objectives, impairs the
generation of plan options, and complicates the issue of the
applicability of the Environmental Assessment Act to the planning
system.
Principles and Process
The Ministry of Natural Resources sets out the purpose, scope
and approach of its land use planning in Guidelines for Land Use
Planning, 1980 . This document first states a set of nine planning
principles to be adhered to by the Ministry in formulating and
evaluating land use plans. It then defines a seven-step planning
process that begins with the setting of terras of reference and
ends with the approval and implementation of district plans.
Finally, it sets out prescriptions for involvement by the public
in the land use planning process. These three interwoven elements
— principles, process, and public involvement — together
constitute a logical, coherent, and internally consistent
framework governing land use planning to meet the Ministry's own
objectives.
The planning principles contain the seeds of some fundamental
defects of the planning for meeting northerners' needs. They
establish the planning as a "top-down" process expressing
provincial policies at the district level rather than any
authentic local perspective on how development ought to take
place. They stipulate that policies are to be translated into
explicit quantified targets for using natural resources;
examination of the targets stated in the district plan documents
reveals the resource development bias that pervades the planning.
The principles call on the planning to generate options and to
evaluate the associated tradeoffs and consequences, while
asserting that the economically most efficient option would
normally be the one preferred. While they note that the planning
should take account of the limited capacity of the natural
environment to sustain use, the production targets for many
biological commodities ahve been set at levels approaching
capacity; achievement of the targets would clearly place renewable
resources in the far north under considerable stress. A
noteworthy omission is any principle stating who are to be the
primary beneficiaries of development resulting from the planning;
the extent to which the concerns of local people are to be taken
into account is a matter of only equivocally addressed.
The seven-step land use planning process embodies two key
tasks: first policy development and refinement through target
testing and second transformation of policy into spatial terms in
the forms of optional plans, then a preferred option, and finally
the plan itself. As Appendix 14 points out, implementation of
the planning diverged in significant ways from the well-designed
process originally set out.
Planning
8-6
Planning Phases and Products
The Northwestern Ontario Strategic Land Use Plan and the
Northeastern Ontario Strategic Land Use Plan , both published In
1982, were the products of the land use planning process for the
Ministry's two northern planning regions. They established the
framework of resource-use policies, objectives, and targets to be
adopted for the West Patricia area and districts elsewhere across
the north.
Meanwhile, as early as 1977, the Ministry of Natural
Resources was mounting a major program of resources Inventory and
analysis to accommodate the special planning requirements for the
West Patricia area. The Ministry has treated this area,
ecompassing all of Red Lake and Sioux Lookout districts and a
large part of Geraldton District, as the subject of a single
district plan.
Land use planning in all the northern districts was initiated
in the late 1970 's. The first phase entailed the assembly and
analysis of information concerning characteristics, potentials and
uses of natural resources. This was a particularly formidable and
costly task, necessitated by the paucity of data previously
available for planning. In the case of West Patricia, the
detailed results of this Inventory phase were made available in
two forms: 40 technical reports on fisheries, wildlife and
heritage resources released during 1979 and 1980, and 27
background information reports published for wide distribution
during the period 1978 to 1981. This first phase work was
summarized in West Patricia Land Use Plan; Background
Information , released for public review in January 1982.
Background Information reports were published for other northern
districts, except Moosonee, over the period May, 1980 to March,
1982.
Following public response, the second phase culminated in the
release of Proposed Policy and Optional Plans documents in June,
1982, for West Patricia and other northern districts, Moosonee
again excepted. Strategic (regional) and district planning meshed
at this time; in the various reports for these two levels in the
planning hierarchy, the statements of objectives and strategies
are compatible and the district targets for the individual policy
areas are identical.
At this point, the phasing of the planning diverged from the
process originally set out. The third phase was intended to take
into account public response to the options presented in the
second for the preparation of a preferred conceptual land use
plan, which in turn would be subject to public scrutiny before
completion of the final district plans. This did not happen. The
second phase documents offered instead what amounted to a
preferred option, a "compromise option that best portrays a
balance of target achievement for all Ministry programs".
These documents were the focus of the second, and last, round of
public consultation, analysis, and Internal review by the Ministry
of Natural Resources.
Planning
8-7
The Land Use Guidelines were published in early 1983 for the
following districts that project into Ontario north of 50: Kenora,
Dryden, Ignace , Nipigon, Hearst, Kapuskasing, and Cochrane. At
the Commissioner's request, the Minister of Natural Resources
agreed to withhold completion of the Guidelines for the West
Patricia area until the Commissioner has made his recommendations.
The Ministry's planning for Moosonee District, which includes the
Hudson Bay and James Bay Lowlands, has lagged considerably behind
that for the other northern districts and is still in progress.
Proposed Policy and Optional
Plans for West Patricia
The Commission's Concerns
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment's review of
land use planning focused on West Patricia for two reasons: first
because this area epitomizes the major social, economic and
natural environmental issues arising from increasing development
impacts on the natural resources, resource utilization patterns
and settlements of the boreal forest and Shield environments of
Ontario north of 50 and, second, because land use planning for the
lowlands is still in progress. The northward advance of the
leading edge of more intensive development into the southern part
of the West Patricia area has been accompanied by new urban
settlements, resource extraction on a large scale and some
devastating consequences for the original native inhabitants. Its
expansion into the less easily accessible and more remote parts of
West Patricia would impinge increasingly on fragile environments
and on the natural resources available for wilderness outpost
tourism, commercial trapping and fishing, and subsistence
activities. The Commission is obliged, by its terms of reference,
to assess the implications of the land use planning with respect
to these issues.
Because the final land use guidelines for West Patricia have
not been published, the Commission's review has had to centre on
the most recent report available, West Patricia Land Use Plan :
Proposed Policy and Optional Plans . Option D, the option
preferred by the Ministry of Natural Resources, has been assumed
to be the one most likely to approximate the final guidelines.
The Planning Report
Proposed Policy and Optional Plans presents a provincial
perspective on the allocation and management of the West Patricia
area's natural resources. The Ministry's broad intent was to
identify the lands and waters necessary to achieve its programs
for the year 2000. The hard core of the report's prescriptions is
defined by the objectives and, in particular, by the allocation
targets set by Ministry for individual resource-using activities
over which it has jurisdiction. The report presents four optional
plans, each maximizing target achievement in at least one of the
Ministry's main program areas; no single option could satisfy all
of its program targets.
Planning
8-8
The Commission found that the report did not convey a clear
picture of just what the optional plans were actually prescribing;
a grasp of the spatial thrust and substance of the options could
be derived only by aggregating several thousand variables. The
Commission's staff spent much more time deciphering the options
than the public possibly could; this is unacceptable. When the
Commission finally did unravel the optional plans, it found that
they would be almost identical were it not for considerable
differences in the location and extent of the parklands that they
allocated and minor variations in the outer perimeter of the
extensive area within which timber harvesting would be encouraged
or at least permitted.
Problems arising from Target Setting
The Ministry of Natural Resources established a single set of
targets for all options. In none of its planning documents does
it make any explicit statement about why and how its targets are
set, an omission that must have baffled northerners. But the
Commission deduced from evidence in the reports that the targets
do have an underlying principle that can be stated thus:
"Targets represent demand for resources in the year 2000 ^ subject
only to constraints imposed by resource supply." In the case
of activities dependent solely on production from renewable
biological resources, this principle can be reformulated as
follows: "Demands anticipated in the year 2000 for products
from biological resources will be met, subject only to the limits
set by the optimum sustainable yields associated with these
resources . "
Clearly, market pressures originating mainly outside the West
Patricia area are intended to be the engine that drives both the
planning and the development that it portends. The Commission's
review of the demand-supply relationships and associated targets
for individual resource-using activities demonstrates that
implementation of any of the options would place biological
resources under considerable stress. In fact, the West Patricia
planners were unable to develop even one option that would meet
all targets collectively.
The planners' attempts to maximize target achievement had the
further unfortunate effect of focusing public attention on the
resource allocation issue of timber harvesting versus wilderness
parks. This polarization diverted attention away from other
important issues of potential conflict and cross-impact between
such different resource production programs as timber harvesting,
wildlife and trapping, and between resource production programs
and others such as tourism and outdoor recreation.
The planning imperative that optional plans must meet targets
to the greatest degree possible had other serious outcomes. It
forced the planners to abandon the more comprehensive set of
social, economic and natural environmental criteria set out in
Guidelines for Land Use Planning for evaluating options. It
prevented them from producing a set of truly different land use
plans, each distinctive in such attributes as dominant economic
Planning
8-9
thrust, sectoral development emphasis, type and spatial
distribution of resource allocations, management strategies, and
social, economic, and natural environmental implications. None of
the Ministry's optional plans for West Patricia could indicate a
type of development that differs significantly from that which has
already taken place in areas to the south.
The Planners' Vision of the Future
The substance of the optional plans for West Patricia
punctures the myth of unlimited resources in the north. The
planning program for this area was initiated and accelerated in
response to widespread dissatisfaction over the prospect that past
patterns of development in the north were about to be replicated
and extended into ecologically and culturally sensitive
environments. The public therefore has had every reason to expect
that the land use planning would delineate, in at least one viable
option, a pattern, form and intensity of future development
differing substantially from those of the past. The public's
expectations are not met in Proposed Policy and Optional Plans .
Implementation of any of the optional plans offered there would
not transform the thrust of northern development to a significant
degree. This outcome was probably inevitable, given the economic
bias embedded in the targets, the imperative imposed to achieve
targets, and the inherent limitations of the northern boreal
forest environments to sustain use at levels attainable farther
south.
Clearly, in the report's scenario, market pressures for
natural resources — pressures emanating in large part from
outside Ontario north of 50 — are to continue to be the primary
determinants of the resource allocations of the future. All
optional plans for West Patricia encourage or permit expansion of
mining activities and tourism development into the most remote
corners of the area. All of them leave the door open to an
advance of commercial timber harvesting at least to the northern
limit of the Reed tract. And they all allow for an extension of
access road infrastructure throughout almost all parts of West
Patricia. Finally, they give rather short shift, in the Reed
tract at least, to those traditional and local uses not strongly
oriented towards an external market economy.
Implementation of any of the optional plans for West Patricia
would bring major pressures to bear on Ontario's largest reservoir
of untapped or sparsely utilized biological renewable resources.
By the year 2000, the levels of optimum sustainable yield from
these resources would have been reached by the targetted
production associated with several important activities (forestry,
trapping for beaver, raoose and caribou hunting, and the lake trout
fishery) and may have come under severe stress in the case of
other activities (commercial and sport fisheries).
The optional plans for West Patricia appear to guarantee
perpetuation of current resource trade-off issues and their
expansion and intensification over the next two decades. The plan
document does not say this, but offers no convincing evidence to
the contrary. Indeed, it is noteworthy for its failures to
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8-10
account for the development consequences of its plan prescriptions
in social, economic and environmental terms or to specify
appropriate measures for enhancing benefits and mitigating adverse
impacts.
Conclusions
I have had to conclude, with reluctance, that the land use
plan documents and the assumptions underlying them are so
seriously flawed that they must not be implemented. The Minister
of Natural Resources has re-enforced this position (although not
for the same reasons) by downgrading the status of the documents
to that of guidelines that might or might not be adhered to.
Moreover, 1 consider that the documents are so seriously flawed
that they should not be used as a basis for informed decision
making about balanced development in the North. My Recommendation
8.5, made later in this chaptewr, is directed to this end.
1 base my conclusion that the land use guidelines, in their
present form and with their present ambiguous status as regards
government commitment to them, should not be used for decision
making on four main grounds — all stemming from my terms of
reference.
First, the guidelines indicate no fundamental change in the
nature, scale, terms and conditions of northern development; their
implementation would perpetuate and extend into the more-remote
north a kind of development so clearly unacceptable to the
northern public that the Government was moved to create this
Commission and to accelerate land use planning in the West
Patricia area. Secondly, the land use planning process which
culminated in the guidelines failed to examine a sufficiently wide
range of development alternatives or to evaluate and compare the
implications of those alternatives that it did examine in social,
economic and natural environmental terms; the process disregarded
the principles of good planning recognized in the Ministry's own
materials, other planning legislation (i.e. the Environmental
Assessment Act ), or authorities in the planning field.
Third, the process reinforced, rather than allayed, the
legitimate complaints of northerners, particularly native
northerners, that they lack power to significantly influence the
decisions being made about the course of northern development in
government and corporate board rooms elsewhere; northerners made
it plain that simply being heard is not good enough. Fourthly,
the ambiguous status of the plan documents as a basis for decision
making about development continues to leave far too much discre-
tionary power in the hands of politicians and senior bureaucrats,
with no more than a minimal level of public accountability.
Public Participation in the Land Use Planning
Public participation, of course, has many faces. It ranges
from information dissemination to civil disobedience. At one end
of the spectrum, decision-makers use their resources to persuade
or foster an attitude of acceptance in citizens towards new
policies. At the other end of the spectrum, citizens are the
Planning
^-11
decision-makers and exercise self-determination. Obviously, the
choice of format for public participation says a great deal about
the level of participation in decision-making that those in power
desire.
In the north, I have found that the nature of representative
government has generally restricted the scope of direct political
involvement for the majority of northerners. Some are
disenfranchised by the very nature of their "special" status;
others by their small and dispersed population. I must conclude
that additional forms of participation are needed to maintain the
lines of accountability and establish the mutual trust needed
between ordinary citizens and those with delegated authority for
them.
I should point out that many of the recommendations made in
other chapters, particularly Chapter 3, apply equally as well to
the general principle stated here, and share in ray resolve to
recommend a new level of participation in government for the
north. It was of particular usefulness, as I have pointed out,
that the Ministry of Natural Resources embarked upon a land use
planning exercise involving a level of public participation which
the Commission could observe and comment upon.
In the Guidelines for Land Use Planning 1980 , the Ministry
clearly stated the advantages of such participation, in that
"Citizens who are familiar with an area can correct any errors or
omissions in the data which is collected by planners, create an
atmosphere of mutual understanding among opposing groups and
contribute to the resolution of conflicts.
"Citizens who are involved with a planning process can often
produce creative ideas which may not occur to planners restricted
by the conventional wisdom.
"Those people who are actively involved in an open planning
process will generally be committed to the completed plan; citizen
participation is possibly the most efficient and cost-effective wa
of public decision-making that unforeseen consequences can be
revealed and opposition can be accommodated before firm positions
are reached."
In a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources, the Economic
Development Committee of the Northwestern Ontario International
Decade Co-ordinating Council asked for his definition of public
participation. His reply, dated March 9, 1982, stated that,
"Public participation includes a variety of means of communicating
with the public, such as letters received and answered, phone
calls and personal conversations, as well as a variety of more
formal means like workshops and meetings. Public participation
means the citizens concerned with the planning area take part in
the planning process rather than reacting to decisions made.
However, it must always be understood that decision-making remains
the prerogative of government. Public participation involves
those affected by the plan, special interest groups, elected
representatives at all levels of government and technical
speciialists . It is a process of mutual education and
Planning
8-12
co-operation whioh provides opportunities for people to work
together in the creation of a plan which reflects their collective
values, experience and best judgment."
The letter concludes by indicating that, while the Minister
"personally favours the information centre as their prime means
of achieving public involvement , (he) is quite willing to consider
modifying or supplementing this approach if necessary .. .and trust
the foregoing has clarified (his) position on public
consultation ."
When it came to the implementation of these rationales, the
Ministry of Natural Resources chose a number of methods. A
description of each, and conclusions drawn from the Commission
studies of these methods, reveal the following:
Mailing Lists - Primarily a one-way flow of information, the early
planning stages were characterized by inconsistent use of mailing
lists, with many citizens and interest groups having difficulty in
obtaining copies of documents. However, later planning stages,
particularly the district level, found mailings to emerge as a
vital tool in combination with "comment sheets" which allowed for
a flow of information back to the Ministry. However, native
people were seriously underrepresented on the mailing list.
Open Houses - An effective way to facilitate a two-way flow of
information, the open house also functions as an educational tool.
In most cases, the Ministry's open houses were well organized and
favorably received, although a tight schedule posed significant
problems to the particiants and MNR personnel alike in undertaking
a meaningful program. In many cases, the public was given just
over one month to respond to the information presented at the open
houses, and MNR staff had little time to evaluate the results
before subsequent planning stages proceeded. Other individuals
were critical of the lack of interest displayed in the gathering of
data, and that a "show and tell" attitude prevailed.
Public Forums - As a final stage of the planning process , a series
of public forums were held across the province in November and
December of 1982. The Minister stated that, "I strongly
believe that the views of all resource users must be considered
before resource management decisions are made. This is why I am
hosting a series of public forums across Ontario this month and in
December. The forums I will hold . . . present an opportunity for
all, whether special-interest groups or private individuals, to
personally convey their concerns to me."
The forums were scheduled for two hours, with the Minister
listening to submissions from the floor. Criticism was again that
a one-flow of information was being provided, with the public
restricted to comments without adequate information from the
Minister to allow a useful dialogue. By the Ministry's own
assessment, the public forum had earlier been described as,
"...the most frequently used method of participation, and in many
instances, the least effective."
Planning
8-13
Special Interest Groups - In the case of MNR's planning process,
the use of special interest groups was limited to lobbying in an
ad hoc fashion. The Ministry chose to meet separately with the
interest groups, rather than mediate or chair joint meetings.
Some of the groups claimed that participants were not allowed to
participate at the same level of the decision-making process; some
of the older, well-established groups clearly had more access than
others. In summary, the Minister was reluctant to use this tool
in a way that would add to the dialogue.
Advisory Committees - The Ministry stated in 1980 that,
"advisory oommittees have the most suaoessful means of achieving
public participation" with the ultimate success of an advisory
committee depending both on the selection of "knowledgeable and
well-respected" committee members and the preparation of clear
terms of reference outlining the role of the members in the
planning process. The Ministry went on to state that "a poorly
selected advisory committee with vague terms of reference"
would do little to enhance the level of public participation in
the planning process.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has established some
advisory committees at both the district and regional
administrative levels. Unfortunately, these committees have only
been employed intermittently by the Ministry - for example, at the
Strategic Land Use Planning Level, the Northwestern Region had a
committee but the Northeastern did not; at the district level, 21
of 25 districts did not have such committees established.
Problems with the committees were evident - in the lack of
clarity of the terms of reference, in the lack of a defined
decision-making role, the lack of representation from the native
communities, in the lack of scheduled meetings, and in the lack of
feedback from the Ministry.
Provincial Parks Council - The Council is a citizen advisory body
that advises the Ministry on policy and management issues
concerning provincial parks. The Council uses a public hearing
format to receive formal and informal briefs and/or comments from
individuals and groups with respect to parks issues.
The Council was used on three occasions at the final stages
of the Ministry's land use planning process to deal with a
specific park proposal, the proposed Whitewater Wilderness Park.
While the Council performed this function as a "sounding board"
admirably, it was apparent that once recommendations by the public
were received the Council advised the Minister and decisions were
made without direct reference to its imput at that point. In this
way, the information gathered was again a one-way source, in the
same way a the public forums had been. Recommendations of the
Council were never made public.
Native Participation Generally
The Ministry was unable to attain the sustained, productive
participation of native people, and its planning exercise suffered
from a failure to elicit a strong, positive and prospective state-
Planning
8-14
ment of the native peoples' own priorities. Wiat little it
obtained was diffuse, general, negative, and not very helpful to
both the planning process and the substance of the plans. The
Ministry attempted to secure the participation of native people,
as it had been able to do in the case of other interest groups, to
obtain a clearer understanding of how their interests could be
better accommodated in the plans without compromising seriously
its other objectives. While the Ministry would have undoubtedly
taken into account any statements of native priorities that it
would receive, it did not consider itself obliged to do more than
solici input. The Ministry's apparent position was that it could
not reasonably extend the program to the active support of
planning an consensus-building in the native communities, for to
have done so would have been costly and time consuming. Moreover,
the possibility exists that it would have facilitated expression
of views that could only give it difficulty. Obviously, the
Ministry could discharge its objectives, albeit much less satis-
factorily, without native participation.
In conjunction with the specific recommendations in regard to
environmental assessment and environmental protection in
Chapter III, the application of the environmental assessment
process to land use planning should increase public participation
in the planning process. However, a number of specific recommen-
dations would be appropriate based on the Commission's review of
the Ministry of Natural Resources' land use planning activities.
8.1 Recommendation:
That in any planning process in the north. Ministries and
Government agencies place a priority on two-way forums of
public participation, particularly those which rely on
dialogue between interest groups and individuals; that
district and regional advisory committees be created with
clear terms of reference and defined roles: and that native
participation be encouraged and accommodated.
8.2 Recommendation:
That recommendations of all advisory groups (including the
regional and district advisory committees and the existing
Provincial Parks Council) be made public prior to Ministry or
agency decisions.
8.3 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources continue and
regularize its procedures for the dissemination of
Information, through, open houses, mailings and public
forums.
8.4 Recommendation:
That public participation procedures for planning processes s
be clearly outlined in a public document (e.g. guidelines).
Planning
8-15
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE MINISTRY
OF NATURAL RESOURCES' PLANNING SYSTEM
Discretionary Status
Nothing exemplifies the discretionary status of MNR's
decision-making powers more than the professed change in the
status of these planning documents from "plans" to "guidelines".
As will be further discussed in this chapter, 1 have noted that
the Minister of Natural Resources lacks legislative authority for
the land use planning exercise. The Public Lands Act , R.S.O.
1980, c.413, gives the Minister broad general authority for the
management, sale and disposition of public lands and forests
(section 2). In addition:
"For the purpose of management of public lands, the Minister
may from time to time establish classes of zones, such as
"Open" , "Deferred" , "Closed" or otherwise as he considers
proper, may define the purposes for which public lands of
each class may be administered, may cause areas of public
lands to be laid down on maps or plans and may designate such
areas as zones, and any areas of public land so designated
shall be administered only for the purposes defined for the
designated class of zone."
However, as indicated, there is no express legislative
authority to point to for the extensive planning activities
undertaken by the Ministry.
Given an overriding discretionary power, the Ministry
proceeded in the last decade with the creation of policy, regional
and district plans, as outlined in the previous section. The 1982
Northern Ontario Strategic Land Use Plan document stated that,
"The purpose of the Northwestern Ontario Strategic Land Use Plan
is to identify the policies and objectives of individual programs
of the Ministry of the Northwestern Region and integrate these
into a comprehensive conceptual land use plan which will both
identify and help resolve conflicting demands on the Region's land
and water base and at the same time provide an overall strategy
within which District Land use Plans will operate."
The district plans, the result of considerable effort and
expense in the specification of inventory related to the objec-
tives and targets in the regional plan, were summarized as,
"...identification of appropriate land and water areas where
various Ministry programs will be carried out over a long term.
It is with the preparation of this plan that the regional policies
and targets will be tested, optional plans developed , and a final
plan produced."
In the West Patricia area, 40 technical and 27 background
information reports were distributed between 1978 and 1981. This
was followed by the West Patricia Land Use Plan: Proposed Policy
and Optional Plans in June, 1982. It stated that, "The
approved District Land use Plan will then provide, for the
Planning
8-16
Distviat y overall guidance for the operation of the resource
management programs of the Ministry of Natural Resources."
I have noted the extensive documentation that resulted in
the final West Patricia District Land Use Plan, now Guidelines, in
order to indicate what clearly appeared, to the Ministries
involved as well as to the Commission, to be planning documents
from their inception. Appendix 14 summarizes the viewpoints of
the various interest groups on this matter.
It was not surprising that a major concern of interested
parties became the exact status of these plans. At the risk of
simplification, the question became: Were these plans the
conventional sense (i.e., official plans such as those under The
Planning Act ) or not? Since the Environmental Assessment Act
clearly applied to "... a ... plan or program in respect of an
enterprise or activity by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of
Ontario ..." (emphasis added) would the Act then apply to these
plans as undertakings?
In response to questions submitted by the Commission
November 24, 1982, the Minister of Natural Resources stated,
"The purpose of the Ministry' s land use system is to provide an
inventory of resource capability and guidance for integrated
resource management by the Ministry over the next 20 years. It
will also present information on where and how MNR proposes to
undertake its resource management responsibilities during that
same time frame, and provides the public with the on-going
opportunity to offer advice and comment. In short, the rationale
for the Land Use Planning Program is simply more efficient and
effective land and resource management over the~ong term . The
land use plans then are guidelxnes for resource management by MNR
and will be implemented under appropriate existing legislation and
the approved programs and activities of the Ministry. All new
resource management activities that are undertaken will have
reference to the general direction set out in the District Land
Use Plans." (emphasis added).
At his appearance before me in the Thunder Bay hearing on
April 11, 1983, the Minister of Natural Resources explained
further:
MR. POPE: Well first of all the use of the word plan
is one of the issues that Cabinet's examining in the
total review of this issue. It's been one of the
contentious issues that has arisen during the course of
public forums and open houses. And the whole purpose of
the exercise that the Ministry undertook was one of
information gathering and information dissementation.
And I have indicated on many occasions that there will
be a number of pieces of information and documentation
that I would look at when I make an allocation decision
under the laws of the Province of Ontario.
MR. SURDYKOWSKI (Solicitor representing the Kayahna
Area Tribal Council): Well, my question really boils
down to this, if this is not, by this I mean the West
Planning
8-17
Patricia land use document, this document here, which
when I look at it says land use plan. That's not
designed to give an outline for what's going to happen.
I mean, why was the term land use plan used?
MR. POPE: Well, obviously because there's such a
disagreement over what it means, it probably shouldn't
have been used.
The Ministry of the Environment, in evidence provide before
me on April 27 and 28, 1983, stated: "One issue of critical
importance is whether or not a land use plan is an undertaking.
The only related experience that we have to draw on to date is
with Municipal Official Plans. The Act has not been applied to
the official plans of organized municipalities since they are not
specifically related to enterprises or activities and are not,
therefore , undertakings. Official plan amendments and by-laws,
however, may be activity-specific. For example, to permit the
establishment of a landfill site, and are thereby affected by the
Act.
"To date, the Environmental Assessment Act has been applied
to the Ministry of Natural Resources' work planning activity level
and resource management planning level. And, this is reflected in
the nine approved class environmental assessments , the two
class environmental assessments under review and the three pending
class environmental assessments, for that Ministry...
"Now where we are at with the Ministry of Natural Resources ,
we have a number of class environmental assessments in place,
approved at the work activity planning level and I will go into
those in a moment. Some of them are in preparation. There are
three class environmental assessments in preparation at the
resource management level. And, as Mr. Redgrave mentioned in to
— in his opening remarks, we have not experienced this type of
activity under the Act, to date, and we are — we are open to your
recommendations on that matter, Mr. Commissioner. We feel that —
that these plans are simply guidelines and not detailed and the
Act would not apply at that level."
Counsel for the Ministry of the Environment further explained
at the Thunder Bay Hearing, April 27, 1983:
MR. MULVANEY (Ministry of the Environment): ... I
don't think it is a question of trying to assess whether
it is in one category or another. From a lawyer's point
of view, which is the evaluation we would have to make,
as to whether the Act applied to land use plans, the
question is whether the Minister of Natural Resources,
in giving it that particular role, is within his
authority to do so. I think the answer is yes. It's he
is. It may well be that a number of the documents don't
yet reflect that position and perhaps should in the
future, but I think he is making a policy statement
within his authority to do so. In other words, he has
the authority to characterize the plans in that way.
Planning
8-18
So we ave prepared to aooept that dhavaoterization and reaoh
a legal oonalusion on the basis of that.
MR. WII^GENROTH (Sioux Lookout Trappers Counail):
Okay J then Just by calling a horse a donkey doesn't
necessarily make it a donkey^ even though somebody may
have the power to do so. To us, it is still a horse
and it seems weird that you would go along with the
policy statement, say, okay, since it is called a
donkey we will just leave it at that.
MR. MULVANEY: But the analogy isn't a good one.
What he is doing is he is giving a specific status of
land use plans. He is saying that within MNR, these
plans are going to be loose guidelines. They're going
to be one channel of advice coming into Cabinet. And I
take the view, as a lawyer, that a Minister of the
Crown has the authority within his Ministry to give that
status to the process, and if I am correct in that, then
the legal conclusion follows from that, that that's all
they are.
In questioning by the Kayahna Area Tribal Council, the
Ministry of the Environment added (at the Thunder Bay Hearing,
April 27, 1983):
MR. SURDYKOWSKI (Solicitor representing Kayahna Area
Tribal Council): Were these guidelines at one time
plans, and they changed to guidelines?...
MR. RENNICK (Director , Environmental Assessment
Branch, Ministry of the Environment): I would say the
answer to that is yes. That would be my
understanding .
MR. SUEIDYKOWSKI : And at the time that they were
plans, the environmental assessment process would have
been applicable to these documents?
MR. RENNICK: If those plans were with respect to
specific activities and enterprises , as the Act
indicates, then yes, it would apply to them.
MR. SURDYKOWSKI: Well, maybe this is where the
confusion has come in then. At one time they were
plans and now they are not.
MR. RENNICK: That is correct.
Counsel for the Commission further questioned Counsel for the
Ministry of the Environment on this point at the Thunder Bay
Hearing, April 28, 1983:
MR. WATKINS (Counsel to the Commission) : . . . your
problem is its difficult to determine whether you're
going to be assessing the plan as a plan, or as the
Planning
8-19
eriteria that were used for a particular allocation, or
particular resource?
MR. MULVANEY (Ministry of the Environment): Yes. I
think that's a good way of putting it.
MR. WATKINS: But that dilemma hadn't bothered you
until just recently because previously you were willing
to accept that the plans, as individual plans, would be
themselves , subject to environmental assessment?
MR. MULVANEY: That's correct.
MR. WATKINS: And not necessarily their
implementation .
MR. MULVANEY: The dilemma didn't occur to, well
maybe it did occur.
MR. JACKSON (Ministry of the Environment ) : The
dilemma had occurred to us, but we were anticipating
receiving an individual environmental assessment that
dealt, not with the document as a document, but 'with the
document as a thing to be implemented , and the
implementation of it. We didn't expect we'd receive an
environmental assessment that stopped at the point where
the Minister of Natural Resources was about to stamp
his approval on the plan.
MR. WATKINS: Whatever that means.
MR. JACKSON: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: In other words, you viewed the plan as
being a document which contained a resource inventory ,
resource capability predictions or assessments and
allocations to particular classes of use?
MR. JACKSON: That is what we thought it was.
MR. WATKINS: Until it was categorized in a
different fashion?
MR. JACKSON: Until it was changed. Yes.
MR. WATKINS: What a difference a label makes.
Given the unfettered discretion of the Minister of Natural
Resources to ascertain the raoment-to-moment status of the
"guidelines" , I accept that the Minister is legally within his
jurisdiction in his designation and approval of these documents.
1 must, however, speculate on a number of important questions
— first, was the change in status from 'plans to
"guidelines" merely one of terminology or were other factors at
work? With all due respect, it is not difficult to conclude that
there were at least two related reasons for this tardy revision.
Planning
8-20
First, the Ministry may have realized that the creation of
something akin to official plans created a more binding authority
for their contents that would then be desirable, i.e.,
flextbility" would be a more acceptable goal for the
Ministry. Second, the Ministry may recognize that such plans
created expectations by interested parties that there would be
predictable, clearly defined rules to live by and therefore,
public challenge would be possible, leading to an erosion of the
Ministry's discretionary powers.
The Ministry, despite the eager acceptance of its policy as
expressed by the Ministry the Environment, may have recognized
that a characterization of the plans as undertakings under the
Environmental Assessment Act would result in an unfavorable
assessment of the documents themselves, i.e., the Ministry must
assess " alternatives" to the undertaking. As well, in
sharing a perception that the environmental assessment process
would entail added delay aad expense, it was to be avoided.
I am unable to substantiate which, if any of the above
factors contributed to the abrupt change in the status of the
Ministry of Natural Resource's extensive planning program. On the
evidence before me, I can only conclude that the Ministry of
Natural Resources played the leading role in the decision, with a
passive Ministry of the Environment reversing their expectations
when called upon to do so. And, for reasons given in Appendix 14
(pages 60 to 65), I am apprehensive that the entire resourced
planning system could escape effective scrutiny under the Act.
A second question is that of my view of these documents in
the future. 1 must conclude that, given the importance and
magnitude of the planning process for the future of northern
Ontario, and the serious problems with the guidelines I have
outlined above, it is unacceptable that the Ministry of Natural
Resources should use these guidelines as the basis for decision-
making in the north. The overriding discretion in the Ministry in
its control and management of Crown lands must be subject to
constraint.
8.5 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural {Resources publish the land use
guidelines for the West Patricia and Geraldton Districts and,
when available, for Moosonee District, at the same time
making clear that all such documents represent the views of
the Ministry and have no official status as the basis for
implementation decisions by the Ministry.
Application of Environmental Assessment to Planning
From its inception, the Commission has heard repeated calls
from interested publics for the Ministry of Natural Resource's
planning activities to fall fully under the Environmental
Assessment Act . Indeed, the Ministry had originally intended to
have the West Patricia Plans subject to the Act. The Background
Information Paper of January, 1982 stated that, "Once the plan
has been approved by the Minister of Natural Resources , it will be
Planning
8-21
submitted to the Minister of the Environment and subjected to an
environmental assessment. . . The Minister of the Environment
may conduct hearings open to the general public thus providing
another opportunity to review the Plan. If revisions are
necessary , it will be returned to the Minister of Natural
Resources for specific alterations. Once revisions are completed,
the document will be resubmitted to the Minister of the
Environment for approval."
However, considerable internal discussion took place which
ultimately resulted in the decision that environmental assessment
was not required. An environmental impact assessment document was
underway before the decision was reached.
Other than from the Ministry of Natural Resources itself,
only a few industry submitters have presented us with arguments
that the Ministry's activities should not fall under the EAA.
Those arguments could be summarized in the following way, that is,
the Act was not designed to apply to such "nebulous" non-specific
undertakings, and if it was applied, considerable delay and
expense would be the result. For example. Dome Mines, in its
submission, stated, "The objective of greater public
participation in the decision-making process has not been well
served by the Environmental Assessment Act. Exemptions from the
applications of the Act have been given for good reasons, which is
direct evidence of its shortcomings. Unfortunately, such
exemptions have removed projects from the formal requirements of
any public involvement without providing a workable alternative.
Essentially , the decision-making process not operates at two
extremes. In one case, little or no public participation is
required but the job gets done, at least in the mining industry,
with a high degree of open consultation and with minimal negative
impact to the environment. At the other extreme is the Act with
its time-consuming and expensive procedures."
No specific documentation has been received by the Commission
from industry representatives to substantiate the view that appli-
cation of the Environmental Assessment Act has in fact caused
additional delay or expense. Experience would lead me to believe
the opposite; if environmental assessment is used effectively, it
may reduce the overall time of implementation of the undertaking,
at reduced cost. In any event, I am much aware of the policy
reasons for the passage of the Act, as stated in Section 2,
"The purpose of the Act is the betterment of the people of the
whole or any part of Ontario by providing for the protection,
conservation and wise management in Ontario of the environment."
I have come to agree with those submitters, such as the
Algonquin Wildlands League, who "...believe that reading the
entrails of the land use planning program is an exhaustive project
with no certain end - somewhat like peeling an onion", partic-
ularly in respect to the extensive regional and district plans
presented to date by the Ministry. However, my mandate specifies
that I recommend improvements in the major decision- making
process involving public lands in Northern Ontario. I believe the
application of the Environmental Assessment Act to such planning
is such an improvement.
Planning
8-22
Ministries, as well as others who undertake planning
programs, must be encouraged to take the next important step - to
use Ontario's existing environmental planning legislation, the
Environmental Assessment Act , to provide the improvements
necessary for a comprehensive planning system for the north.
I find it difficult to accept that the Ministry of Natural
Resources embarked upon its ambitious program without wishing to
have a final plan (subject to normal review processes), at the
policy, regional, district and management levels, for each area
encompassed by its research and inventory activities. These
documents are plans for the north which - while not comprehensive
and, therefore, not acceptable at the present time - are near the
goals of a predictable, credible and orderly public land use
commitment. The Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as others,
must, therefore, not recoil from the implications of its
decisions. It must be encouraged to take the next step.
I have concluded that Ontario has already recognized the need
for comprehensiveness in the consideration of undertakings in the
public sector (and, by designation, in the private sector) through
the passage and implementation of the Environmental Assessment
Act . Environmental assessment in Ontario developed out of a
public awareness that a broad range of factors needed to be
considered in a comprehensive way before such major undertakings
were implemented. It was recognized that such major undertakings
could create future problems which environmental protection and
management processes under existing legislation were insufficient
to alleviate on their own. Ontario (although nearly all provinces
and territories now have some environmental assessment process)
took the lead in designing comprehensive legislation to assess
projects before their approval.
This legislation provides a means to compare alternative
locations or methods of achieving the purpose of the undertaking,
ensuring that widespread environmental affects of the project will
be considered at an early stage, providing consideration of
methods to avoid or mitigate adverse environmental effects, and
allowing for a range of public participation from pre-submission
consultation to formal hearings. It could be described as
planning legislation with particular emphasis on the environmental
consequences of this specific undertaking. However, such a
distinction is likely a distinction without a difference.
Planning processes in Ontario, whether it be at the local
municipal level through official plans, zoning by-laws, and
subdivision control or at the broad policy level for Crown lands
use, allocation and management, are subject to the same pressures
and concerns. Conflicts between economic feasibility and
community objectives abound, and public concerns and demands have
increased as "quality of life" issues are exposed, with increased
professionalism on all sides of the particular issue involved. It
is much to late to return to discretionary and loosely defined
guidelines, to "public consultation" in the form of open houses,
and to private meetings perceived to be the satifactory allowable
input by decision-makers. It is imperative that the Ministry of
Natural Resources, or any other Ministry or government agency.
Planning
8-23
never be allowed to return to decision-making out of the manager's
drawer or at the whim of special interest groups or individuals.
The application of environmental assessment to all planning
processes at each level of specificity can ensure:
1. a full range of biological, physical, social, economic
and community concerns are canvassed.
2. consideration of alternatives to any given plan, so that
biases by proponents are avoided and full consideration
is given to other points of view.
3. a process and framework that, after full consideration
of the issues, allows for trade-offs between economic
and community goals underlying planning decisions.
4. increased knowledge and understanding of primary and
secondary effects of actions to be taken on various
alternatives.
5. a legislated, clearly defined process for full public
input into proposed plans.
6. adequate environmental data gathering and presentation.
7. a single province-wide standard for planning of public
undertakings within a comprehensive planning process.
I recognize that the following recommendation will not meet
with universal acceptance. Some industry representatives, but
particularly the Ministry of Natural Resources, as we have seen,
will view this recommendation as leading to increased delay and
expense in their existing planning process. As 1 have discussed
in the section on environmental assessment, 1 do not share the
view that, in the long term, such problems, will in fact occur.
The Ministry of the Environment agreed that, "A planning
process focusing on predicting the potential effects of an
undertaking is established under the Environmental Assessment Act
so as to best evaluate the various options proposed. In this way,
the negative effects can be minimized, or, at the very least
recognized . As the Ministry of the Environment pointed out in its
1977 brief to this Commission, industry planners have realized
that this approach to major projects is advantageous to their
firms. Several companies have voluntarily gone through the
environmental assessment process and capitalized on it.
The Environment Ministry quoted the Kimberley Clark Company's
view of this process as it was applied to Mill Expansion at
Terrace Bay: "Our Environmental Assessment, together with the
discussions and exchanges with your Ministry and others regarding
it, greatly assisted us in identifying potential problems in the
early stages of our project and enabled us to incorporate modifi-
cations ... in the overall development'." More specifically.
Parks for Tomorrow asked, "...the government to live up to its
stated commitment and ensure that all land use plans, including
WPLUP, be subjected to the scrutiny provided for by the
Environmental Assessment Act. We see this as an important
Planning
8-24
supplement to the hasty and narrowly- conceived approach MNR has
brought to this planning exercise."
While it will still be necessary to subject site-specific
undertakings to the Environmental Assessment Act , as provided for
in that legislation, I would hopefully predict a lessened
necessity for such action and a consequent reduction in the number
of such individual assessments. One obvious example would be
that, if public concerns are resolved totally in the planning
stages (as well as through pre-submission consultation), it may be
possible to reduce the number of outstanding issues or to lessen
requests for environmental assessment hearings altogether.
In addition, I have observed the Ministry of the Environment
waiting and reserving judgment on this issue. I am very concerned
with their hesitance to advocate a comprehensive planning process,
through the use of the Environmental Assessment Act , which has
been demonstrably successful in other jurisidictions. The Ontario
Environmental Assessment Act , as the most progressive assessment
legislation in Canada, must be, and I hope will be, supported by
the Ministry that administers it. It can only be said that its
performance on this issues has been disappointing in its
passivity, and destructive of public confidence in the Ministry of
the Environment. We are paying a high price for the Ministry's
lackadaisical attitude to the legislation under its jurisdiction.
This must end.
8.6 Recommendation:
Given that seel ton l(o) of the Environmental Assessment Act
defines "undertaking" to Include "proposal , plan or
program in respect of an enterprise . . . j and given the
potentially significant environmental Impacts of any
enterprise involving resource development north of 50, that
all proposals, plans and programs, including regional, dls-
dlstrlct and management plans for use north of 50 (and all
land use planning activities and all regional, district
resource and forest management plans) be subject to the
Environmental Assessment Act .
It is evident that there are a number of procedural paths
that the assessment of land use planning could take. One path
already followed is that of the class assessment; however, it is
clear that such an approach may meet with limited success and has
limited uses.
It is not my intention to recommend a specific form or
process of assessment of land use planning but rather to actively
support the use of the existing environmental assessment process.
A number of procedural Implications offer particular challenges
and additional resources are implied.
I am well aware, for example, that the Ministry of Natural
Resources, in their consideration of this matter, was concerned
with the mechanics of assessing environmental impacts over a large
area. It seems apparent, on the face of it, that one solution, as
is evident in other jurisdictions, is environmental assessment as
Planning
8-25
the level of the planning process ; i.e., the level of detail is
reflected in the level of planning process. Another example would
be in the presentation of the "alternatives" section of the
environmental assessment. For a large-scale regional plan (such
as West Patricia), it could be "alternatives to the regional
plan" y not "alternatives to possible uses under the plan"
(the latter following naturally at more specific planning
levels).
8.7 Recommendation:
That an active inter-ministry committee, involving the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of the
Environment, establish guidelines for the application of the
Environmental Assessment Act to planning processes in the
north; clearly defined procedures should be implemented for
the assessment of plans. Alternatively, the Environmental
Assessment Advisory Committee could undertake to develop
guidelines or special procedures for the environmental
assessment of proposals, plans and programs.
LEGISLATIVE BASIS FOR LAND OSE PLAhfNING
The Ministry of Natural Resources' responsibilities for
management of public lands are spread among at least 57 statutes
administered by that Ministry. (It is to be noted that the
Ministry of Natural Resources, Legal Services Branch, was unable
to provide a comprehensive list of statutes administered by that
Ministry). The elaborate land use planning exercise embarked upon
in the last decade, involving the expenditure of approximately $5-
raillion, has no specific legislative base. As I pointed out in
the previous section, its ad hoc processes have been subjected to
twists and turns (from "plans" to "guidelines" , for
example) that have created a maze of contradictory and sometimes
incomprehensible policy direction to the public, and certainly to
this Commission.
While, for example. Section 12 of the Public Lands Act
provides for "zoning plans", the Minister (Honourable Alan
Pope) in his appearance before rae , maintained that the legislative
basis for land use planning activities was not based on that
specific provision but instead dispersed among the statutes
administered by the Ministry. He maintained that this was not a
problem because "the legislative base is clearly set out in
the existing statutes of the Province of Ontario. There is no
mystery to them; they are quite clearly there and the Legislature
of Ontario has, on many occasions, discussed the land use planning
program and some of the individual specific concerns of various
constituants of the members of the legislative assembly."
I have been advised by my counsel , who have reviewed the 57
named statutes administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources,
that while the legislative authority over defined land, resources
and activities is provided by the relevant legislation, the
legislation is silent on the policies and procedures for its land
usre planning exercise. While the lack of a specific legislative
direction in and of itself is not necessarily a fatal flaw in any
Planning
8-26
planning mechanism (examples of such could be pointed to in other
jurisdictions), it is readily apparent that a planning process
developed by any Ministry or government agency demands a clearly
articulated legislated authority.
Ministry assurances that land use planning is discussed at
the Cabinet level does not answer satisfactorily the major issues
at stake for the future of Ontario, particularly to those with a
direct interest in these matters. One need only ask why it is
necessary for southern Ontario to have substantial legislation,
with exacting procedural requirements, such as the Planning Act ,
if such assurances answer the question. Residents of southern
Ontario would no doubt find it surprising to be governed by
discretionary, ever-changing "guidelines" which, without
great faith in the internal workings of Cabinet, make the future
seem insecure indeed.
While it may be said that this begs the question of
government control over Crown lands and the influence it can
extend over private lands, it is perhaps self-evident that
responsibility of government should be much greater, not lesser,
towards its public resources.
At the very least, I would maintain that any Ministry must be
able to point to specific legislative authority for a substantial
planning undertaking. In regard to the Ministry of Natural
Resources, legislated land use planning process, whether
independent of existing legislation as The Public Lands Act or
separate legislation, could lead to a predictable, credible, and
comprehensive process that is sadly lacking under the its present
land use planning activities.
The importance of the planning exercise embarked upon by the
Ministry of Natural Resources is not to be diminished by the
comments above. It is an important step in the evolution of that
Ministry, and despite the extensive criticism levelled against the
substance of the guidelines and the public participation process,
offers a starting point for further positive direction. As Polar
Gas stated in its submission, "Regional planning exevoises suah
as the West Patricia Land Use Plan and the Royal Commission on the
Northern Environment, constitute positive attempts to achieve a
co-ordinated approach to regional planning, and are partidularly
useful since they take into account a range of social, cultural,
environmental and economic issues. The eventual evolution of a
set of land and resource use priorities will provide more clearly
defined guidelines within which industries wishing to locate in
Northern Ontario can orient their submissions and performance , and
will provide a more effective standard of evaluation for residents
and government, which in the end saves all parties time and
expense,"
It is time to establish a formal legislative base that would
"flesh out" the exact nature of the policy and/or process
for that future direction of policy coordination and effective
public involvement.
Planning
8-27
8.8 Reconnnendatlon:
That each Ministry and government agency involved in planning
develop a single, specific legislative base, either by new
legislation or by amendment to existing legislation for
planning activities.
Using the Ministry of Natural Resources as an example, new
legislation might include:
1) a clear policy statement on the purpose and importance
of land use planning on Crown lands in Ontario;
2) clarification of this policy in relation to existing
internal mechanisms and other ministries;
3) a specifically outlined procedure for resource
allocation and management decision-making, including
amendment, review and appeal procedures, as well as
clearly specified time periods;
4) provision for a specific operational policy on public
participation; and
5) provision for public advisory groups on a district,
regional and/or provincial basis.
If the Northern Development Authority is established, its
role in designing and negotiating resource use agreements should
in some way be integrated with planning activities. Its experi-
ence would be a useful source of information to planners. It
should in turn have privilege access to all relevant government
planning process.
Planning
CHAPTER 9
RESOURCE DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES
As we have seen, it becomes clear that the northern
environment and the 30,000 Ontarians living north of 50 stand in
stark contrast to that experienced by residents of the more
populous and industrialized south.
While many of the issues and problems in Ontario north of the
50th are common to all people in the region regardless of location
or ethnic origin, there are a number of problems which pertain
predominantly to the single industry towns generally located in
the southernmost portion of the region, either stretched along the
Canadian National rail line or the Trans-Canada highway and
communities some 160 kilometers or more north of the railway
established by the mining industry.
The historic vexation of northern single industry communities
often referred to as within the treasure box of resources, is that
the riches resulting from more than half a century of mining and
logging have continued to flow to people and centres in the
province's southern half. Of the cash flow of multi-millions of
dollars almost nothing is left behind in the form of first-class
community infrastructure for the people responsible for producing
the flow of dollars, to acknowlege their input and make their
lifeway more fulfilling. Instead they have been left to coax for
meager dollars to build, staff and maintain schools; there was no
help for recreational facilities and people had to provide these
themselves with the assistance of industry, who were not allowed
by the taxation department to consider these expenditures as
operational costs.
Following construction of the transcontinental railway,
tenacious, experienced geologists and prospectors led the way in
penetrating the north, bringing about the establishment of new
mining communities. Lacking any roads or transportation
facilities, the mining industry had to develop its own water
transportation system to move in mine equipment, milling
machinery, building materials and supplies. Townsites had to be
built up at the mine sites to house and service their employees
without any government assistance. There were no roads to connect
these communities with the southern highways until some 25 years
later. When resources were depleted, the projects closed,
abandoning the workforce and leaving the community without taxable
support. The "boom-bust" cycle of life in a one-industry town was
established and remains with us today.
The stark reality of these towns necessary for the province
to reap its natural resources, is that their very existence
depends on the economic health of the resource industry and,
unless a tourism component is established, or they can otherwise
diversify, they are incapable of dealing with a sudden industrial
downturn. Pickle Lake, Beardmore, McKenzie Island and Madsen are
some examples of industry closures leaving people unemployed and a
depressed housing market in their wake.
Resouvoe-Dependent Communities
9-2
Over time, circumstances singled out towns such as Sioux
Lookout, Red Lake and Geraldton for survival. These single-
industry tovms were able to diversify with tourism and logging
operations, and due to their re-established stability, governments
saw fit to set up regional or district headquarters in them
bringing additional stability to the communities. In addition,
these towns, connected with the highway system and having airport
installations, are serving as transportation corridors between
isolated northern settlements and the province's more populated
regions.
Two obvious threats exist to their continued economic health.
One is government cutbacks which could reduce civil service
positions and cause a notable decline in payroll income for these
centres, leading to secondary effects such as reduction in
passenger volume for the transportation sector which relies in
part on the movement of government employees and government-
related travellers. The second threat comes from a downturn of
resource activities in the immediate area. Because goods,
services and people are transported throughout these towns to
production sites (i.e. mines, logging camps, hydro and
communications installations) via the service centre, a decline in
business for the town's entrepreneurs can follow a site closure.
In towns along the CNR line which rely exclusively on
resource extraction operations to the north, any downturn or
stoppage of those operations removes the community's only source
of employment and revenue — unless a viable tourism industry
exists or can be established.
QUALITY OF LIFE
As history has shown, such threats often become a reality in
the north and it is these constant boom-bust cycles which create a
further disparity between life in the north and life in the south
of Ontario.
Social services, which remain generally constant in the
south, fluctuate greatly in Ontario north of 50 where the economic
ups and downs produce a consistent lack of good recreational,
health and education facilities as well as a chronic shortage of
professionals such as doctors, dentists and teachers. The effects
are varied. As the Moosonee Recreation Committee told us during
our hearings there in 1978: "Reareation is a very high
priority in this aommunity but there is a great lack of funds for
it. Recreation is a must here because of the high unemployment
problem." At the same hearings, the Moosonee Metis and
Non-Status Indian Association offered another perspective on the
effects of boom-bust cycles: "If the population in our
community is to increase , we must have adequate housing in a price
range which people will be able to afford."
The task of raising necessary funds to establish conditions
within the communities which offer a more satisfying and
fulfilling life becomes an arduous task. These difficulties,
which continue to plague northerners, were acknowledged in a
submission by the then-Ministry of Treasury, Economics and
Resource-Dependent Communities
9-3
Intergovernmental Affairs in their submission at the Timmins
hearings in November, 1977: "The relationship between the
availability of services ^ including the cost to users or property
taxpayers, and development is well known; the lack of services or
their high cost makes it difficult for such communities to attract
and retain people even when jobs are available."
One of the classic arguments put forward as a solution to
improving the attractiveness of resource-based communities to
investors is to improve local servicing: from 'social' services
(education, health and recreation) facilities to 'hard' servicing
infrastructure such as sewer, water, roads and power utilities.
The provincial G2vernment is to be commended for its recognition
of the urgent needs of northern communities, by establishing the
Ministry of Northern Affairs in 1977, and the positive support
given this new Ministry to fund many of these long needed hard
servicing facilities, but the Government continues to be somewhat
tardy with respect to social services.
During the 1977 Red Lake hearings, the local Tri-Municipal
Committee detailed some of the reasons for the high rates of
population turnover in northern communities: limited social and
economic opportunities; periodic fluctuations in the economy and
uncertainties regarding jobs; the narrow range of education and
recreational opportunities for children and adults;
dissatisfaction of women with job opportunities; and a sense of
isolation.
Severe climate, social and physical isolation, the high cost
of fuel and supplies, and the perceived lack of services also
contribute to a high labor turnover and the exodus of young people
and professionals to southern population centres.
The result of this type of outflux is highlighted by Geoffrey
Weller in his 1977 paper, " Hinterland Politics: The Case of
Northwestern Ontario ," published in the Canadian Journal of
Political Science : ^'The economics of extraction thus develops
an atmosphere in which much of the local population feels
exploited , underprivileged , alienated and unable to control either
their own destiny or that of the region. Local elites play a
minor role in the decision-making affecting northwestern Ontario.
All they can hope to do is somehow influence those who do make the
decisions. ... It might be argued that the ability of the region
to bring pressure to bear on the federal and provincial
governments for basic changes in its hinterland status is hampered
by the apparent need to apply constant pressure simply to obtain
essential services that are provided almost automatically in the
metropolitan centre."
And yet, the appeal of the northern lifestyle — away from
the crowding and fast pace of southern cities — remains. As
Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology pointed out
in its 1983 submission to the Commission: "Jobs attract people
but quality of life factors keep them in communities north
of SO."
Resource-Dependent Communities
9-4
The question of who should pay for additional services beyond
what the local tax base can provide is central to the problem of
what can be done to improve the social and economic quality of
life in northern communities. The fact is that Ontario has an
ongoing need for its natural resources. Therefore, it is obvious
that the Government has a responsibility to provide services
comparable to other communities in the province for those
Ontarians and their families prepared to undertake resource
extraction jobs in the remote north.
Many northern communities, surrounded by resource extraction
activities, are forced to watch as resources are taken from their
immediate areas with no taxes or royalties being paid to the
community.
The incongruity of the situation can be illustrated by the
communities in the Red Lake Board of Education district. Forests
within the district are harvested to supply pulpwood which is
trucked daily past their towns and out of the area to the Kenora
and Dryden paper mills on which Crown royalties for the wood, at
the rate of $8 per cord, amounts to $2.8-million annually. The
underground raining tax paid annually by mining corporations in the
same district is close to $20-million but no sharing formula
exists so that the local school board can benefit directly or
indirectly from these revenues. Ignace, the supporting community
for the Sturgeon Lake mines 80 kilometres to their north, has the
same disadvantage; and the communities of Marathon and
Manitouwadge, which will be housing the personnel of the major
HEMLO gold mines now under development, face similar challenges.
The list goes on. Unquestionably part of these royalties and
underground mining taxes should be directed to a northern fund,
administered by northerners, to provide first-rate education,
recreational opportunities and medical/dental facilities in
northern towns. At present all corporate taxes, royalties and
underground mining taxes flow to the general provincial and
federal treasuries.
It becomes incumbent on the Government of Ontario to hear the
needs of the northern people to provide their youth with the
breadth of education, recreational experiences and exposure to the
arts, that already exists in southern Ontario.
9.1 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario establish a special fund
administered by a board of persons representative of the
north; that the fund be used for medical, educational,
cultural and recreational purposes in communities north of 50
at the discretion of this board; and that the fund be
comprised for the first three years of 25 per cent of
revenues collected by the Government of Ontario from mining
and forest undertakings north of 50 in the form of
underground mining taxes and stumpage fees and subsequently,
such percentage as is fixed each year by the Provincial
Cabinet.
Resource-Dependent Communities
9-5
NEED FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Historically, some hinterland towns in Ontario north of 50
have enjoyed a fairly stable economy based on a major industry
with a long lifespan. Small retail and service-oriented
businesses are firmly established, and a general sense of
'community' has become a fact — despite some social and economic
hardships caused by their high cost of living and isolation. As
discussed, this situation can be disturbed, however, if resource
supplies start to disappear or production cutbacks are
necessitated by a sluggish international market.
The economic reality of one-industry towns was pointed out
during the 1977 Red Lake hearings in a submission by a group
called TREES (Taking Responsible Environmental and Economic
Safeguards): "Without diversification within the local economy
people are coerced into rnaking crisis decisions which present, at
best, a very questionable future." This outlook was supported
by the Ministry of Community and Social Services in its March,
1983, submission: "Communities should not be based solely on
one industry / enterprise , but rather should strive to have some
diversification in order to achieve some protection against the
vagaries of market conditions. ... Towns and communities with
governments (all levels) must plan and control, where necessary ,
economic development in order to avoid the massive social
dislocation that is manifested in "boom/bust" towns and
communities ."
The challenge for northern communities is to broaden their
economic base through diversification before any major resource
problem develops. The options are not extensive and, as 1 have
indicated in Chapter 7, the one exception is tourism. Tourism has
enabled communities to establish a more mature economy capable of
surviving a reduction in or closure of their primary industry.
This increases the importance of my recommendations in Chapter 7,
Tourism, which I will not repeat here.
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE
While the situation is becoming better known the plight of
northern communities has not yet found priority in economic-
decision making by politicans.
For instance, the Ministry of Treasury and Economics
announced a new province-wide program (The Community Economic
Transformation Program) which was scheduled to begin in 1984/85
budget year. This program was aimed at directing assistance to
communities that "are experiencing extreme structural change
and severe and persistent economic problems..." especially
those with large welfare caseloads, increasing population growth
and major plant closures. These qualifications are similar to the
conditions experienced in "bust" towns as a result of mine or mill
closures. However, with a relatively limited budget and an
unofficial priority given to communities with populations
exceeding 30,000-40,000, it is unlikely this program will have any
impact on the area north of Sudbury in the east or Thunder Bay in
the west.
Resource-Dependent Communities
9-6
Turning to the Federal Government, the reorganization of
federal economic development job creation programs appears
hopeful. However, it is still too early to determine the real
merits of the program. For example, one serious mis judgment on
the part of the Department of Regional and Industrial Expansion
(DRIE) for developers is the designation of northern Ontario
largely as a "Tier I" region — meaning the area is predominately
economically stable, thus of the lowest priority for assistance.
For most programs offered under DRIE's Industrial and Regional
Development Programs, eligible northern Ontario businesses or
municipalities must put up 25 per cent more local capital than
their counterparts in economically similar regions of the country
that are designated as being "Tier II" or "III" and therefore
considered to be more in need. These limitations or conditions
illustrate the frustration caused to resource dependent
communities.
However, the Ministry of Northern Affairs has indeed built a
good reputation and presence in northern Ontario and its role as
program coordinator and public educator could become indispensable
(as it already is to some extent). For example, it would be
beneficial if a new community desiring a full range of "start-up"
services (social and physical) could negotiate entirely with one
agency — MNA. The Ministry should represent the interests of the
other funding agencies and be responsible for communications back
and forth between Queen's Park and the north. The other agencies
would fund their own programs and administer them in terms of
determining eligibility, establishing financial accountability,
project direction and evaluation. MNA could assume the
responsibility of introducing the "client" to the available
programs, providing liaison advice throughout the life of the
project and afterwards if necessary. The benefits of having one
Ministry to deal with arises repeatedly and a recommendation for
this appears elsewhere in this report.
The Small Business Development Corporation (within the
Ministry of Industry and Trade) through its subsidiary — the
Northern Ontario Development Corporation (NODC) — has created many
successful business ventures in the southern portions of its
jurisdiction but few new ventures have been created by this agency
within the Commission's mandate area.
Recently a new program — "NORDEV" — has been announced by
the Ministry of Northern Affairs, offering grants primarily to
private sector businesses with the general intention of
stimulating job creation, resource development and tourism
development. Specifically, the four major components of the
program are:
1) an employment incentives program to encourage
private sector growth;
2) an industrial infrastructure program to offset the
high cost of sewer and water implacement (in a
municipal industrial park, or in a particular
construction phase);
Resource-Dependent Commumttes
9-7
3) a resource diversification and development
component to fund private sector studies of new
innovative techniques/technology and also
feasibility studies; and
4) a tourism development component to fund planning
and marketing studies for new business potential,
and marketing studies for existing operators.
The $lO-million program, funded by the Ministry of Northern
Affairs, is to be administered jointly by MNA and NODC over a
five-year period.
The integration of NODC and MNA expertise in the management
of NORDEV is an improvement in provincial economic development
policy. NODC has developed considerable expertise in the admini-
stration and day-to-day management of industrial development
programs which can be shared with entrepreneurs and municipalities
alike. MNA is quickly establishing a reputation as the Ministry
most aware of the northern "plight" and the Ministry most easily
accessed. Together these agencies provide an integrated pool of
business expertise, a sound knowledge of northern concerns and
issues, and the vehicle for widespread support of the program's
potential.
In its role as co-ordinating lead agency for most provincial
and provincial/ federal programs, and administrator of its own
internal programs, MNA has become somewhat of a "one-stop-
shopping" agency wherein concerned northerners can reach local
government offices and speak with civil servants who are experts
in northern affairs and government policy (most of whom are
northerners themselves).
The Ministry's increasing efficiency and developing rapport
with local people gives it a future potential which is only now
being recognized fully.
9.2 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Northern Affairs act as the coordinator
and "one-stop" source of information and assistance for
provincial and federal economic development programs, to
include working closely with the Northern Development
Authority to ensure maximum benefits to northern residents.
9.3 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Northern Affairs develop and maintain in
each of their northern offices a current bank of data on the
many Government and private sector agencies offering
financial expertise and assistance in the establishment and
financing of new enterprises.
Northern experience and maturity through trial and error has
brought about the realization that governments alone cannot be
expected to create jobs. Ontario north of 50 is not, and probably
never will be, a small-scale replica of southern Ontario or even
Resouvoe-Dependent Communities
9-8
of the "mid-north" on the southern side of the 50th parallel. Its
population will probably always be small in comparison with that
of other regions, and its communities small and scattered.
Manufacturing and agriculture — the economic bases of the south
— probably will never contribute much to the prosperity of
northerners. In fact, if southern models of economic development
are applied to the north, they may well be doomed to failure.
Experiences in Third World countries have demonstrated that
it is foolish to try to graft industry onto physical and social
conditions which do not provide a suitable base for it. Such
experience correspondingly demonstrates that it is wiser to base a
region's economy on human and natural resources which already
exist. This does not necessarily mean that some form of
manufacturing industry will never emerge, but its emergence
should be allowed to take place as a natural development of an
evolving economy, not as a forced transplant.
In Ontario, if the north is approached on its own terms and
if opportunities are sought for economic development based on the
imaginative use of northern resources for the benefit of
northerners, opportunities are most likely to be found. Again, I
stress, the future of the north has to be conceived as
complementary to the south and on a par with it, but not a
miniature reflection of it.
The fact remains that only businessmen and entrepreneurs
encouraged by a government-created climate, are equipped to assess
an area's potential. If left to do what their experience and
training has equipped them to do, these are the people who can
develop the enterprises and create the demand necessary for
success.
For instance, the ordinary man has been brainwashed by
economists to believe only experts can understand the changing
value of money. Yet it is the ordinary man, wife, aged or
pensioner who has come to realize that his own personal life
experience proves that the so-called expert's new economics and
monetary strategeras have in fact taken the real worth out of
income for his labor and services, his pensions and his savings.
Northerners are well aware that motherhood statements and
theoretical presumptions have not produced jobs in the north and
we need to recognize that the man who runs a store, builds boats
runs a tourist operation, a machine shop, a furniture shop, a
logging operation, a saw mill, traps for furs or does commercial
fishing knows much about putting people to work successfully.
It is becoming apparent that the more successful business
person and entrepreneur in the north are to be found among those
who have endured the relative hardships of the northern climate
and economy; have become woven into the social fabric of the
community; have chosen to live in the north and who understand the
local options their skills can develop. These are the people who
accept northern conditions and may well be the most qualified and
the most willing to make the necessary investments — for no other
reason than their families are at home with the lifestyle.
Resouroe-Depe^dent Communities
9-9
Out of the core strength of a northern community's tried and
experienced people will the most successful diversification
develop. Creative force lies vrLth the people. One entrepreneur
is better than two led men.
The cogent saying "Far away fields are greener" is to be
challenged. Those fields may well be parched!
Resouvoe-Dependent Communities
SUMMER BEAVER COMMUNITY
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Housing
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The Church under construction
Housing
CHAPTER 10
THE FUTURE; A STRATEGY FOR COMMUNITY AND SECTORAL PLANNING
Many northerners still consider that the north has become an
economic colony of the south, receiving an insufficient share of
the benefits of development while bearing most of the adverse
impacts. They feel that they have little control over shaping
their own destinies and lack power to significantly influence
decisions about development made in corporate and government
boardrooms elsewhere. They argue that these decisions are being
made without adequate understanding of and regard for the
vulnerable natural and cultural environments of the north. Native
people are particularly apprehensive about the prospects of
further disruptive encroachment on their traditional homelands.
Some changes for the better have taken place since the
Commission began its work. The planning and public participation
programs carried out by the Commission and the Ministry of Natural
Resources have undoubtedly led to a heightened understanding by
northerners of the issues confronting them, and this in turn may
assist interest groups in negotiating and compromising, as they
must, on the tradeoffs facing them. The Ministry's increasingly
evident willingness to deal openly with the public on policy,
planning and program matters affecting it is commendable and bodes
well for the future.
As well, northern native people are becoming increasingly
articulate on matters respecting their land claims, their
aboriginal rights and the Constitution, and increasingly aware
that reliance on programs and projects initiated, funded, and to a
large degree imposed by governments is not the route to sustained
growth or cultural survival.
Government departments and ministries are stepping up their
efforts to coordinate their programs better and to make them more
responsive to real needs. Despite such hopeful signs in recent
years, the major issues of northern economic development, environ-
mental protection and power over development decisions persist
with little fundamental change. Land use planning by the Ministry
of Natural Resources did not allay northerners' concerns, but
instead signified the persistence of past patterns of large-scale
industrial development and external decision making while
providing unconvincing guarantees of improved resource management,
sustained yield and environmental protection. Government agencies
continue to pour millions of dollars into native communities while
generating a disappointingly small amount of meaningful new
economic activity and failing to reduce dependence on make-work,
social assistance and welfare programs. And, all too often,
native communities have failed to take advantage of good
opportunities offered.
Issues of development, environmental protection, power in
decision making, and planning are inextricably intertwined. My
mandate and the sheer weight of the views presented to me oblige
me to recommend measures that would better the circumstances of
northerners and minimize adverse effects of development on their
Community Planning
10-2
economy, society, culture and natural environment. Greater
benefits for northerners will not be gained by continuation of the
development philosophies, policies, plans and programs of the
past, and still in place. They will accrue solely through the
acquisition and wise exercise by northerners of greater powers to
influence decisions about major enterprises and even to reach
their own decisions on matters of sub-regional and community
importance having little significant effect on the people of
Ontario as a whole.
All development decisions must be based on some conscious
rationale and some body of information supporting it, and hence on
some planning process that considers both ends and means.
Planning is not a process carried out in a policy vacuum, but is
undertaken in order to articulate policy more explicitly and to
provide a sufficient basis for decisions to implement actions
consistent with it. Northerners cannot intervene effectively and
intelligently in policy and decision-making matters without a much
greater measure of control over planning processes of their own -
processes that will elucidate and give greater operational
substance to their own goals, objectives, priorities, and needs.
Thus, northerners' visions of the north must necessarily determine
the principles and procedures of the planning that they will help
to devise and in which they will be engaged. And, since the
various interest groups have their own objectives, no single
process can meet all their needs; more than one is required.
Northerners and others expressed strong views on the kinds of
development that will be acceptable and unacceptable in the north.
While the views of the various northern interest groups were often
different and sometimes incompatible, taken together they
demonstrated a high degree of consistency in their collective
vision of the future and a commonality of purpose that augurs well
for the cooperation and compromise that must now take place. To
produce a development plan for the north is obviously beyond my
mandate and would, in any event, be presumptuous, given my
position favoring greater power for northerners in determining
their own future.
Instead, I have chosen to provide a synthesis of what I have
learned in the form of a planning strategy for northern
development and environmental protection. This strategy outlines
a policy for development together with a set of planning
principles, objectives, procedures and actions for implementation
that seem to flow logically from it.
In advocating a stronger role for northerners in these
matters, I am conscious of my obligation to make recommendations
consistent with the good of all the people of Ontario. For
decisions respecting major enterprises, governments bear ultimate
responsibility. But the public can expect governments to exercise
this responsibility by taking into consideration the fullest
possible array of relevant factors and viewpoints and acknowledg-
ing an obligation to be accountable to the public about how and
why particular decisions are reached. On their part, northerners
must learn to contribute stronger, less equivocal, and better
substantiated arguments for their own priorities if they are to
Community Planning Q-< , -^. .-/-■ Ir - , ^ r\lLij ' - ; /^r^
10-3
gain greater power in influencing decision making at the highest
political levels.
CONCEPTS AND PLANNING APPROACHES
The terms decision making, planning, and research occur
throughout this part of the report. Because they are often
confused, they need to be operationally defined.
Decision making, in the context of the Commission's work, is
essentially the act of making a decision about development or
environmental protection by an agency, community, group, or
individual empowered or delegated the authority to do so.
Decisions should be, but not always are, the culmination of a
planning process, and they are often tempered as well by
politicians' perceptions of reality and other considerations
outside the planners' purview.
Planning is a process for defining goals and objectives and
deriving strategies for action consistent with them; important
decisions on development ought not to be made outside the scope of
a planning process. Ideally, planning should be a rational, tech-
nical and fully participatory process whereby a government,
agency, community or interest group systematically sets its own
goals and objectives, defines its own priorities, evaluates and
specifies actions to be taken, and determines a time-frame and the
financial and administrative resources necessary for implementing
them. All groups and individuals having a stake in the outcome of
a planning process should be accorded opportunities to participate
fully and prospectively at all stages in the process, to influence
its course and outcome, and to evaluate final proposals prior to
decisions on them. And, moreover, they are entitled to an
explicit accounting of how the decisions were ultimately made.
Research involves special study to illuminate inadequately
understood factors that need to be considered in planning. It may
contribute to planning and is commonly a component of planning,
but it does not constitute planning peT' se.
Planning as practised in the north exhibits several variants,
differing in the extent to which these ideal attributes as
described above are incorporated in the geographic focus of the
planning and in comprehensiveness. Land use planning by the
Ministry of Natural Resources, for example, was a formal, clearly
articulated process that genuinely sought to attain the ideal,
though it fell short in many ways. But other satisfactory
conceptual models exist too, based on planning procedures
compatible with the ideal. Submissions by native people informed
me of their traditional process of consensus-building, in which
all members of a band or community contribute their experiences
and views until a common base of information is shared by all, a
common understanding is reached about goals, objectives,
priorities and needs, and unity is attained on what courses of
action to take. I was informed that this process cannot be rushed
and is not amenable to demands for a quick response to external
initiatives. In this process, the roles of government agencies
become essentially those of providing funds and information,
Community Planning
10-4
advising on methodology, and facilitating implementation of
feasible and sensible proposals emanating from consensus when
asked to do so. And the roles of the outside "expert" are to
provide input of advice on request and to contribute to the
consensus-building on as sustained a basis as the community
wishes.
Consensus-building north of 50, which I strongly support as a
precondition for later stages of planning, is a process focusing
primarily on the community and then on the community's relation-
ships with its hinterland and the outside world. It is a
"bottom-up" process, unlike the land use planning which, while
striving to accommodate local views, was imposed on the north
following principles, procedures and objectives developed outside
the north. Land use planning was a "top-down" process looking
into the region and its communities from the outside. Moreover, I
consider that consensus-building is a planning and decision model
that could be productively emulated across the north for
negotiating and compromising on tradeoff issues between interest
groups. The challenge in this case is to devise structures and
forums that will enable the transactions to take place.
In too many instances, government agencies have decided to
initiate or support development projects, enterprises and the
provision of infrastructure and social services in native and
other northern communities on the basis of nothing more than
narrow viability analysis — substantiated by little or no
examination of the likely consequences of what is being delivered
for the community or its compatibility with the community's goals,
priorities and needs. Analysis of this type is a necessary part
of a planning process but, isolated from other components of the
process, can scarcely be considered planning. And, even worse,
some programs are delivered without substantiation by any
discernible planning activity.
Planning approaches can be classified in terms of geographic
focus (province, region, community) and function (comprehensive,
sectoral). These geographic and functional classes can be
combined, so that one can speak of, for example, comprehensive
community planning or sectoral regional planning. And the
sectoral planning class can be further broken down into such
sub-classes as social planning, economic planning, and
environmental planning or, in yet another way, into such sub-
classes as land use planning, resource management planning,
tourism planning, and access road planning. Still further
subdivisions can be made in seemingly almost infinite variety
(tourism marketing planning, for example). Moreover, totally
different taxonomic methods could have been used to classify
planning approaches.
Comprehensive planning spans and attempts to integrate the
entire spectrum of economic, social, cultural, natural
environmental, financial, and administrative concerns relevant to
decisions about development and environmental protection. It
calls for identification and evaluation of alternative scenarios
of development and protection and their likely effects as a
prelude to determining the most appropriate one, and then sets out
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10-5
the strategies, programs, and projects necessary to implement the
one selected.
The Design for Development program of tlie 1970 's was the
Ontario Government's massive initiative in the field of comprehen-
sive planning for the province. The planning was instigated and
coordinated by the then Ministry of Treasury, Economics and
Intergovernmental Affairs and was carried out by task forces and
committees of experienced planners from ministries representing
the span of the government's economic, social and natural environ-
mental responsibilities. Its intent was to devise and propose to
the Government a set of integrated policies, goals, objectives and
strategies for implementation that would enable the Government to
chart and influence the future development of Ontario and its miiin
regions, including the north.
The program acquired considerable momentum, but was never
brought to a conclusion and withered after the raid-1970's for a
variety of reasons. As the planning evolved and its prescriptions
became increasingly explicit, politicians began to sense that it
could lock them into long-term commitments that they were
unwilling to make and that it might raise public expectations that
they could not fulfil.
Design for Development was a classic example of comprehensive
government-executed, "top-down" planning that was articulating
strategies for the regions themselves. And, while it did specify
strategies for the north, it had scarcely anything to say about
the half of the province north of 50. The provincial Government
is unlikely to embark again on such an ambitious planning venture
for either Ontario or any of its main regions. And even if it
did, provincial planning could not take the place of comprehensive
community planning and sectoral planning undertaken by northerners
themselves towards promoting their own priorities for development
and environmental protection. Instead, the Government ought to
actively support planning by northern communities and groups.
The federal Government's sponsorship of community planning by
native people across Ontario represents the only other significant
attempt by governments to promote comprehensive planning affecting
the north. While this initiative embodies some attractive
planning principles, problems have arisen in its implementation
and it has encountered some resistance.
Sectoral planning is undertaken by individual government
agencies and by sectoral interest groups. Several agencies of the
Ontario Government have carried out sectoral planning studies for
large regions in the north. Like Design for Development, these
too represent "top-down" planning. Sectoral planning by
governments focuses on specific elements of their overall
responsibilities, often considering these elements in the context
of those of other agencies. Sectoral planning obviously entails
sacrifice of comprehensiveness.
The Ministry of Natural Resources' land use planning remains
the single most Impressive effort by an agency at either senior
level of government to undertake sectoral planning at large
Community Planning
10-6
regional scales in Ontario. The Ministry sought to broaden the
scope of its planning by integrating its interests with those of
other public and private bodies having a stake in the disposition
and management of Crown lands. But it was not mandated to either
plan comprehensively or present an authentically northern
perspective on development, and ultimately it did not do so. The
main thrust of the land use planning has now become exhausted.
Any attempt to revive it or make it more comprehensive and more
responsive to northern needs would be doomed to fail.
Other regional-scale sectoral planning has been carried out
in the north: Ontario Hydro's studies of northern rivers, for
example, and several studies of the tourism industry, most of them
outdated and pertaining mainly to the southern part of northern
Ontario.
In exercising their responsibilities, federal, provincial and
municipal government agencies conduct sectoral planning for
smaller areas and individual communities. Some of these planning
activities have focused on natural resources (lake management and
forest mangemsnt planning by the Ministry of Natural Resources,
for example), others on infrastructure and other community
matters, and still others on particular aspects of social
development and economic development.
Most government agencies carry out sectoral planning
primarily in order to improve the discharge of their
responsibilities to their clients across the province in
contributing to the well-being of the province's population as a
whole, and only secondarily, when at all, to meet the needs of
regional or other special interest groups. This emphasis is as it
should be; only governments have the obligation, the sufficiently
broad perspective, and the appropriate expertise to balance these
needs. But governments can balance them more equitably if
regional and special interest groups become better equipped to
articulate and substantiate their own needs. Northerners must
engage in their own sectoral planning in order to determine and
then advance their own priorities. Governments should contribute
to this task by encouraging it, by conducting research, and by
providing information, expertise, and catalytic funding. But any
attempt by governments to do sectoral planning on behalf of
northerners - something that only northerners can do for
themselves - is sure to fall on barren ground.
PARTICIPATION BY NATIVE COMMUNITIES IN PLANNING
AND DECISION MAKING FOR DEVELOPMENT
Responses to the Land Use Planning
Both the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Commission
recognized the crucial contribution that effective participation
by native people could make in development-related planning and
decision making, and both exerted themselves to secure it.
Valuable practical insights for the future can be gained by
summarizing the two agencies' experiences and the lessons learned.
In comparing and contrasting these experiences, the Commission
must point out that the differences reflect mainly the different
Community Planning
10-7
objectives of the two agencies. Ultimately, the Ministry's job
was to prepare plans that articulated and specified its policies
and principles at the regional and district levels in support of
its mandate. The Commission was not fettered in this way.
Indeed, it recognized that its mandate was not to produce a plan
but to make recommendations about alternative forms of development
that could benefit northerners, particularly native northerners,
and others in Ontario as well.
The Ministry was unable to attain a sustained, productive
interface with native people, and its land use planning suffered
greatly because it could not elicit a strong, positive, and
prospective statement of the native peoples' own priorities. What
it did manage to obtain from them was a diffuse, general,
negative, and not very helpful reaction to both the planning
process and the too-rapidly jelling substance of the plans. The
Ministry tried very hard to secure the participation of native
people, as it had been able to do in the case of other interest
groups, so as to obtain a clearer understanding of how their
interests could be better accommodated in the plans without
compromising seriously its other objectives. While the Ministry
would have undoubtedly taken into account the strong, positive,
and constructive statements of native priorities that it did not
get, it did not consider itself obliged, fitted, or welcome to do
more than solicit input. The Ministry's active support of
planning and consensus-building in the native communities would
have been costly and time consuming and, moreover, would have
facilitated expression of views that could only give it trouble.
The Ministry could discharge its objectives, albeit much less
than satisfactorily, without central native participation. The
Commission could not; indeed the Commission would not have been in
the least successful had it not been able to secure a sufficient
native contribution to its own work. Accordingly, I was obliged,
in the face of discouraging and time-consuming setbacks, to make
establishment of an effective working relationship with native
people a central focus of my entire program. I consider these
efforts to have been justified by the outcome although, in the
end, they were not as successful as I had hoped they would be.
Native organizations, communities, and individuals explained
to me why they refused to take part in the Ministry of Natural
Resources' land use planning, or were reticent to do so on an
intensive or protracted basis. The Treaty organizations and some
other native agencies regarded settlement of land claim,
aboriginal rights, and constitutional issues as preconditions for
their involvement, arguing that they would be compromising their
stance on these issues by acknowledging the Ministry's juris-
diction over Crown lands and its rights to plan for their use and
to manage them. Several native submitters pointed out that the
Ministry's public participation procedures, based as they mainly
were on written documentation and calling as they did for rapid
assimilation of information and quick response times, were
incompatible with traditional native ways of oral communication,
careful consideration, and consensus-building. Many found the
information that the Ministry sent them too technical, while
others noted that they were not even made aware of the planning
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10-8
until too late a stage in the process. In some Instances, it
appears that information sent to the band office was simply
stock-piled and never distributed throughout the community.
Other considerations presumably added to the reluctance of
native agencies to take part in the planning. Some took issue with
the accuracy of the Ministry's data, suggesting that it was often
not in accord with their own experience, as the people most
intimately familiar with the natural environment and its use, and
even that it was contrived to serve the ends of southern
development interests. The Ministry introduced into its
participation process a sophisticated, "scientific" and quantified
data base that native people, whatever their reservations about
its accuracy, apparently felt ill-equipped to counter. Native
agencies have recognized that they must acquire more convincing
bodies of quantitative and qualitative information of their own if
they are to further their claims and work as partners with others
in planning. And, as they point out, the Ministry was able to
draw on seemingly limitless funds for its inventorial and planning
work, while they have had to plead for money to carry out their
own studies of traditional patterns of land use and occupancy and
their own documentation of the crucial importance of living off
the land to their identity and survival. Moreover, funding was
not made available to potential native intervenors to cover the
high transportation and other costs that they would have to bear
if they were to participate effectively. In the face of these
obstacles, their progress has been remarkable.
In carrying out their work, the Ministry of Natural
Resources' planners had strong financial support, the necessary
technical expertise, and clear instructions to plan. But, above
all, they had the momentum of a firm mandate when it came to
public participation. While the plan documents did not always
present a clear, spatially explicit statement of what was being
considered, the whole planning effort seemed to be moving in a
pre-ordained direction, driven by goals, objectives, and targets
determined mainly elsewhere. While the directly affected parties
and others were given or, in the case of native people at least
offered, ample opportunities to contribute their views about
development and about the planning and to contest proposals
perceived to be not in their best interests, the Ministry's
momentum and its final rapid drive to wind up the planning placed
all participants in essentially a defensive and reactive position.
I can sympathize with the reluctance of many native groups to
become involved at all.
The Commission learned of many issues which the Ministry
seemed willing to debate only because it was willing to make
concessions on them. Tourist outfitters, for example, became
engaged in discussions with the Ministry about the width of forest
buffer zones to be left around lakes with outpost camps and about
whether these zones should be "managed" or simply left alone.
Trappers argued with the Ministry over timber harvesting methods
that would impact least on their trapping, while advancing no
strong case that timber should not be harvested in some areas at
all. The debate scarcely touched on still other major issues.
Can, for example, an authentic wilderness experience for a
Community Planning
10-9
specialized or elite tourist clientele be provided in a
"manicured" wilderness landscape in which the prospect from the
shore is one of untouched forest, while the flight in to the
outpost camp is over clear-cut forest and the day's solitude is
broken by the not-so-distant buzz of chain-saws? It is not my
intent to adjudicate these issues; I am simply pointing out they
were seldom clearly raised, let alone debated. Most participants
in the planning felt placed on the defensive. While they knew
that they had to respond to the evolving substance of the plans
according to how they perceived that it would affect them
directly, they seldom came forward with strong positive statements
of their own priorities. My recommendations on planning are
intended to ensure that native and other northerners are placed in
a position to do so, without having to react to proposals of
others far more powerful than they.
The Commission's Experience
The Commission's own experience in attempting to work with
native people yields lessons for the future. The Commission
experimented with five different kinds of participation models and
forums. First, it made efforts to publicize the role of the
inquiry and to transmit the results of its own work and other
information to the communities in order to elicit constructive
response and positive input from them, and it produced newsletters
and took on a staff of information officers to do so. This
particular participation was not as effective as it could have
been had the Commission been able to better synchronise its
research and public participation programs during the middle
stages of the inquiry. A second model called for collaborative
research projects to be undertaken by the Commission and native
agencies; this approach was implemented, with some degree of
success, with the Kayahna Tribal Area Council. A third model, a
particularly productive one in my view, was the Commission's
support and sponsorship of an independent impact study at Fort
Hope. In the fourth model, I sought to secure participation by
native people through their submissions under my public funding
program and at hearings held in their communities and elsewhere;
their response was crucially valuable to me. The fifth model
entailed the circulation of research reports by my staff and
consultants.
The Commission strove to stimulate the participation of
northern native people at all levels. I regret that I could not
forge a productive working relationship with Grand Council
Treaty //9 , although I tried to do so in several ways. I felt
disinclined to debate issues pertaining to land claims, aboriginal
rights, and the Constitution, for to do so would have surely
compelled me to step beyond my mandate and would, in any event,
have been counter-productive to its discharge. While I
acknowledge these to be vitally important issues, I concluded that
they are ones more appropriately addressed in other forums.
I met with somewhat greater success in my efforts to work
constructively with at least some of the tribal area councils,
whose activities include both political representation of
groupings of communities and socio-economic development within
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10-10
them. In the case of the Kayahna Area Tribal Council,
representing a group of Indian communities centred around Big
Trout Lake, the Commission agreed, after some strong initial
reservations, to support native-executed land use and occupancy
studies by contributing funds, supplying needed expertise, and
making provision for cartographic services. The communities' work
culminated in an impressive published report and atlas: The
Kayahna Region Land Use and Occupancy Study .
In order to complement the Kayahna research, the Commission
carried out a comparative study of cash income sources in the
Kayahna communities and non-native communities in the Sioux
Lookout district. I had intended the whole joint project to be
fully collaborative; I wanted it to develop a common body of
information that the two parties could draw on in order to reach
shared as well as independent conclusions. Unfortunately, while
some interaction took place, the hoped-for close fusion of the two
components never happened because contact between them was too
sporadic. Collaborative research may have a future as a useful
forum for planning and participation, but the work must be
integrated on a continuing. Sustained basis if it is to be fully
productive.
Throughout my inquiry, I found my efforts to stimulate con-
tributions from native people to be particularly fruitful and most
cordially received through my contacts with them at the community
level, where interaction could take place largely unencumbered by
political rhetoric. That the native communities wanted to bring
their concerns and proposals before me is manifest by the large
number of submissions that they made through my public interest
subsidy program and at my informal hearings and meetings.
Collectively, these submissions constitute a powerful statement of
native peoples' aspirations and priorities that has guided me in
drawing my conclusions and framing my recommendations.
Some Accomplishments
Submissions to the Commission dispelled any notion that
native people are incapable of setting their own goals,
objectives, and priorities or actually undertaking projects that
generate jobs, income, and other lasting benefits. To the
contrary, northern native people demonstrated to me that they are
often better equipped than any outsider, however well-intentioned
and "expert", to assess community strengths and weaknesses,
identify communities' own realistic solutions to problems, and
embark on courses of action that contribute to their self-
reliance, cohesiveness, and cultural identity. Heartening
examples can be cited to show that native people are capable of
taking constructive steps to confront what must often have seemed
to be a set of hopelessly unresolvable problems. I can touch on
only a few of the most outstanding ones in this report.
Kingfisher Lake Socio-Economic
Development Corporation
The experience of the Kingfisher Lake Band and its
development corporation provided me with tangible evidence of the
Community Planning
10-11
lasting and widely-dispersed benefits and self-reliance that a
native community can gain through involving its members in
deliberate, cautious, comprehensive and sustained planning to
determine its own independent course of action. The community
made a realistic appraisal of its own circumstances and the
development options open to it. It concluded that continuing
reliance on government programs and on outside sources for most
goods would not provide enduring solutions to the problems
confronting it. While it recognized the need to rely on the
resource base for subsistence and economic development, it also
realized that it had to seek long-term alternatives to trapping,
hunting, and fishing, pursuits that could not continue to support
a growing population and that, in any event, depended on
traditional skills that were vanishing. It resolved to identify
and take up opportunites to establish band-owned, non-profit
businesses and services that would be self-supporting, create
employment, and endow self-reliance and community pride.
The Kingfisher Lake Band determined its first priority to be
the containment of economic leakage from the community. In 1980,
it established, as the crucial first step, the Kingfisher Lake
Socio-Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit organization
having potential to increase the community's control over its own
affairs. The corporation's first task was to buy out the Hudson's
Bay Company store, which was known to be capturing some 82 per
cent of the money flowing into the community through economic
activities and transfer payments and transmitting most of it to
the outside.
The store's operation could not completely stop the flow of
money to the outside, for it still depended on imported goods.
But the surpluses were sufficient to create an independent fund of
capital, to which no strings were attached, for investment in
other projects that the community wanted: a laundromat to free
women from the arduous tasks of fetching water and fuelwood,
heating the water, and washing and drying by hand; a mechanics and
repair shop where equipment and skills are shared; a coffee shop
operated by the band in consultation with the corporation. The
corporation is considering and investigating further initiatives:
a new store, to be built from surpluses generated by the store
sales and using locally obtained construction materials wherever
possible; a community gardening and greenhouse project; small-
scale alternative energy systems. The corporation also sometimes
supports recreational and other activities in the community.
While the corporation has received catalytic grants and loans
from government to get its enterprises started, these enterprises
appear now to be able to sustain themselves on their own. The
corporation operates primarily with funds from store sales, the
local purchase and subsequent resale of furs, and interest on terra
deposits, and all surpluses from the various community projects go
to the corporation.
The corporation's structure and mandate encourage participa-
tory decision making and sharing of responsibility through
consensus. The corporation is accountable for all its activities
to the membership, which comprises the whole community, and its
Cowmunity Planning
10-12
Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the
community's families.
Several ingredients came together to contribute to the
success of the Kingfisher Lake Socio-Econoraic Development
Corporation: the corporation's non-profit nature and its ability
to generate an independent, community-controlled fund of capital
and reinvest surpluses in community projects; the commitment of
the corporation to work, with the community's leaders and members
in planning and implementing projects consistent with community
priorities and to be accountable to the whole community; the
corporation's conduct of its affairs in a business-like way,
maintaining a distance from federal government agencies and also
from band administrative control and native politics while working
closely with the Chief and Council; the representation on the
corporation's Board of the traditional family structure of the
community; and recognition by the corporation of the importance to
the community of such non-monetary values as good working
conditions, a sense of ownership and participation, and cultural
identity.
Gull Bay: Kiashke River Native
Development Incorporated
The success of Kiashke River Native Development Incorporated
of the Gull Bay Band on Lake Nipigon further reinforced my
conviction that locally-based development corporations can be an
exceedingly productive vehicle for the implementation of projects
that enhance income and self-reliance in northern native
communities. This corporation's story is worth recounting, for
it, too, shows what can be accomplished through the sustained
efforts of capable and dedicated community leaders bolstered by
constructive support from government agencies and other outsiders
at key stages when it is needed but without excessive interference
by these agencies or band politicians. The Gull Bay band's
successes arose from its leaders' resolve, dating back to the
early 1970 's, that Gull Bay should become a forest-based economic
community through participation in a timber-harvesting enterprise
tied to industrial markets and through maintenance of the natural
environment for trapping, hunting, fishing, and wilderness
tourism. These leaders followed the kind of deliberate, cautious,
learn-as-you-go approach to the problems confronting them that was
evident at Kingfisher Lake.
By the end of 1983, after nine years of existence, the
Kiashke corporation's operations were employing 40 pieceworkers as
loggers, cone pickers, tree planters, and haul crew. Total wages
over the period 1974 to 1982 amounted to about $4-million. The
corporation has performed as a good citizen of Gull Bay by
providing support for a variety of community projects.
Kiashke Native Development Incorporated was created and
became able to contribute to the well-being of Gull Bay because of
the confluence of a number of favorable circumstances and
ingredients: strong local leadership and initiative; determi-
nation on the part of the leaders to make maximum use of community
skills, to conduct the forest operations as a business and not a
Community Planning
10-13
band venture, and to seek outside advice and training when
necessary; access to a sufficiently productive resource base and
to markets; and cooperative attitudes and actions on the part of
governments and industry as regards advice, on-the-job training,
start-up funding, and markets.
CES Strategy at Big Trout Lake
Still another experience worth recounting for the useful
insights that it reveals about how government agencies can both
assist and retard community socio-economic development is that of
the Big Trout Lake Band with the Community Employment Strategy
over the period 1976 to early 1980. The CES was a joint
federal-provincial initiative spearheaded by the Canada Employment
and Immigration Commission and the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
Its primary thrust was to coordinate development activities within
each of several selected native communities, in partnership with
their members, in order to alleviate worsening crises of
unemployment, underemployment, and welfare dependency. The
program's key operating principles were that the communities
themselves would Identify problems and propose solutions that
could be attained through more effective use of existing federal
and provincial government programs. And the basic strategy that
it developed for Big Trout Lake was facilitation of community
planning to find short-terra solutions to unemployment while
establishing a basis for longer-term planning.
Early studies under the program led to recommendations for
14 projects in the areas of training, job- and education-related
information, and specific proposals for evaluation. Tangible
benefits arose from the concentrated efforts to improve
coordination and eliminate blocks to implementation: a causeway
linking parts of the community; a winter access road to haul logs
from Long Dog Lake; initiation of further research on projects
appearing to offer development potential; conduct of training
courses for practical skills; hiring of an outreach worker and a
planning coordinator; feasibility studies of a furniture shop, a
proposal to purchase a commercial aircraft, timber operations, and
alternative energy generation; trapline development; and an
organizational study of the band government.
While these early accomplishments of Big Trout Lake under the
CES program were fairly consequential in terms of short-terra job
creation, skills development, and infrastructure improvement,
long-terra benefits could be attained only by on-going coordination
of training, job creation, and agency support, by better access to
existing permanent employment opportunities, and by the establish-
ment of new viable enterprises owned and operated by Indians.
CES was wound up in 1980 because of "budgetary constraints". An
evaluation of the program, as presented in a submission to me
remarked that "The establishment of a permanent co-ordinating
mechanism under local control and with stable and adequate funding
is necessary if the kind of momentum achieved during the CES is to
be regained, and sustained to the point where long-term solutions
are found."
Community Planning
10-14
The start-up of a still-successful, community-ovmed furniture
shop - providing jobs, meeting local needs, and supplying outside
markets - was a major accomplishment of CES at Big Trout Lake.
The community had been interested in this project as early as
1974. A shop bulldiiig was completed two years later with funds
from the Opportunities for Youth Program. A feasibility study
conducted by outside consultants under the aegis of CES and with
funding by the Local Employment Assistance Program (LEAP) foresaw
an optimistic future for the enterprise while inadequately
identifying major obstacles that were eventually encountered
during implementation: insufficient attention to local wood
supplies, which have proved to be deficient; over-estimation of
community demands for furniture and cabinets; failure to identify
the potential long-term strengths of the institutional and
off-reserve markets and the shorter-term impediments to entering
them; inadequate provision for the local production of
good-quality dried lumber; and insufficient provision for
phasing-in supporting infrastructure, like electric power, prior
to the commencement of operations.
Other obstacles were encountered that niight not have been so
readily foreseen: difficulty in finding a suitable manager/
trainer; problems with devising furniture designs appropriate to
both local skills and markets; the desire of other bands to engage
competitively in a similar enterprise; and, according to one
submission, reluctance of the Department of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development to be a more active institutional customer
for a development initiative in which it had no financial
commitment or direct control.
The furniture enterprise has survived these formidable
obstacles and seems established as an asset to Big Trout Lake.
The community's dedication to the enterprise and its persistent
resolve to make it work provides a heartening example of what can
be done in isolated northern native communities.
Summer Beaver's Land Use Plan
I was particularly impressed by the pride and enthusiasm
displayed by leaders of Summer Beaver when they presented to me
their community's well-thought-out preliminary land use plan for
the settlement itself and its hinterland. Continuation of this
commendable initial work merits support, as does the planning now
taking place in several other communities.
Impact Study and Research at Fort Hope
The Fort Hope community's response to my sponsoring of its
impact study and research was a high point of my tenure as
Commissioner. Fort Hopians presented the results of their work in
a commendable report - The Ogoki Road: An Avenue of Worry - and
at a public hearing there in which virtually the entire community
participated. I remain greatly impressed by the breadth, depth,
and insightf ulness of the study and by the logic and innovative-
ness of its findings, and also deeply moved by the commitment,
enthusiasm, and unity of purpose demonstrated by the community's
members, almost all of whom had taken part in it. The products of
Fort Hope's efforts provide tangible evidence of what a community
Community Planning
10-15
can accomplish through consensus when left alone to follow its own
independent course.
The impact study was coordinated by two principal
researchers, one a resident of Fort Hope and the other an
experienced outside professional who proved acceptable to the
community and was willing and able to contribute to consensus-
building over an extended period of time. The researchers, in
effect, participated in the community, rather than the community
in the research. The roles of the Commission in the project were
essentially those of providing administrative support and funding,
subject of course to reasonable financial accountability.
The impetus for the Fort Hope study was apprehension in the
community about the problems and challenges that it would have to
confront if it became linked to the outside by the Ogoki road.
The Ogoki road was being constructed northwestwards from Nakina to
give Kimberly-Clark of Canada Limited access to mature timber in
that part of its limits near the Albany River while relieving
harvesting pressures on its southern limits. The community had to
decide whether or not it wanted a road link to the access road.
The results of a comprehensive and detailed questionnaire
administered to residents proved to be the main key for
stimulating dialogue, interest, discussion, and consensus-building
within the community. This was complemented by other work,
notably archival research and the establishment of harmonious
relations with Kimberly-Clark officials. The outcome was a more
realistic understanding by community members of their circum-
stances and the historical events and cultural factors that had
led to them and a clearer consensus about what they now must do to
take fuller advantage of their limited opportunities while coming
to grips with discouraging economic problems and a disintegrating
society and culture.
The results of the questionnaire substantiated the litany of
seemingly intractable problems confronting the community: the
devastating impacts of decisions made outside to settle a nomadic
people in ill-planned permanent communities; the erosion of
traditional skills and the cultural heritage through educational
policies tied to payment of family allowances; the increasing
ascendancy of a disoriented subculture of younger people
( "Whindians") who are highly dependent on welfare and lack both
traditional skills and the ability to compete outside, who are
losing touch with the elders' wisdom and knowledge of Indian
culture, and who are becoming the political advocates of Indian
ways that they never experienced; the inability of the natural
environment to sustain the growing population; the limited job
opportunities in the community, coupled with a demoralizing
dependence on transfer payments and welfare and on high-cost goods
from the outside.
Residents of Fort Hope did not claim that their plight went
unrecognized. To the contrary, they found themselves victims of
governments' paternalism and inability to gear assistance to
community realities and aspirations. The study report states
their views on this matter more convincingly and vividly then I
Community Planning
10-16
ever could myself: ".... the I960' s and 70' s were an era of
expanded funding to native oommunities and all sorts of programs
whish brought education missionaries ^ eoonomia missionaries ,
social missionaries , political missionaries ^ community
'development' missionaries - missionaries of every variety, but
missionaries nonetheless. All the programs were designed to
re-form and upgrade the Indian, to re-make and re-model him in the
image of the whiteman. It is true that Fort Hopians weren't
coping too well with the second-rate version of the 20th Century
that had been foisted upon them - but it was not due to any defect
in the people or their traditional culture. It was due to the
defects in the policies and programs - the main one being their
lack of coordination and any well-defined explicit overall
purpose. Thus the new policies and programs of the 60' s and 70' s
just made matters worse."
The report later continues on with the indictment in a
similar vein: "Throughout the 1960's, native communities in
Northern Ontario were bombarded with courses, programs, projects
and studies from government agencies such as ARDA, Youth and
Recreation Branch and the CYC. All of which made little
noticeable difference in people or their communities and some of
which were patently absurd. In the 1970' s, the emphasis shifted
to 'hard core development' - Economic Development Officers and
their missionaries from DIAND and other federal government
agencies took over. On the basis of the 1980 and '81 employment
figures, their programs, projects , courses and studies must be
judged as unsuccessful since they failed to produce the jobCs]
.... so badly needed to survive .... programs were devised based
on the community' s 'needs' (i.e., lacks ) as perceived by white,
middle class outsiders ... . without a thorough analysis of the
realities involved, there could never be any clearly defined
overall purpose and coordination of the programs .... the control
and decision-making was in the hands of those through whom the
funds came ... ."
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment sponsored
the program of planning and research at Fort Hope for three and a
half years. This period was sufficiently long to enable Fort
Hopians to make a useful start and substantial progress towards
reaching a consensus on their priorities and on realistic courses
of action consistent with them. The community needs and merits
continuing support for its own long-term planning efforts. Many
of the projects and actions that its members tentatively
identified require further "mulling over", fleshing out, and
feasibility testing. As the research report acknowledges, in
setting out its internal recommendations pertaining to the
community: "It was the task of the Study to arrive at
recommendations based on the data gathered about Fort Hope and the
Ogoki Road. It is beyond the scope of the study to provide
detailed plans or ways in which to carry out specific
recommendations. That is the task of Council, the Community,
future studies and future programs. The authors caution that a^y
attempt to implement the recommendations instantly and/or all at
once without exhaustive discussion within the community and
without a carefully planned and integrated approach, will doom
Community Planning
10-17
them to failure, worsen existing problems in the community and
create absolute chaos."
The study's findings, along with the recommendations made to
the Commission at the Fort Hope hearings, lead the Commission to
conclude that a strategy consisting of a set of five inter-
dependent components must be devised and implemented for the
community's survival and development. This conclusion is further
reinforced by The People of North of 50°; In Quest of
Understanding , a report prepared at the Commission's request by
the two principal researchers on the Fort Hope project as a
synthesis of their knowledge gained there and elsewhere in the
north. The strategy has obvious application to other native
communities in the north.
The first component, the prerequisite for the success of the
other four, calls for mobilizing the community's cultural heri-
tage, social strengths, and skills so as to bring about community
cohesion and self-reliance and make the community a better place
in which to live. The objective here is to maintain what is best
of Indian values, while gaining greater familiarity with the white
man's ways and taking what is best from them. And a key to
achieving it is to harness the wisdom of the "traditional" elders
and the skills of the "transitional" group in coping in both
worlds, before it is too late. The study, based as it was on
consensus-building, has already demonstrated that it can serve as
a powerful tool for addressing this formidable task; it has ident-
ified for further consideration an array of specific actions for
doing so. Yet, while the study has helped the community's members
to reach a clearer understanding of the things that they them-
selves, and not others, must do, their planning must continue on.
The second component calls for import substitution, the
production of goods and the provision of services locally to
replace high cost alternatives now imported from the outside.
According to the study. Fort Hopians spent more than $1.5-million
annually for supplies and goods at the co-op store alone, an
amount equivalent to almost $6 per person every day of the year.
While local control of the co-op store has generated some surplus
money for circulation in the community, the store remains a major
source of economic leakage to the outside. But an increase in
commercial fishing to meet community needs and the production
locally of livestock can replace costly imported meat, and a local
market garden operation would displace imported vegetables that
are generally low in quality. The subsidized housing provided by
the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is
unsuited to the northern Ontario environment and the needs of its
native communities; the funds available for housing could be more
productively applied to support a local industry producing logs
and other materials for dwellings and buildings of local design.
And, as well, there may be scope for other small community-serving
enterprises like the repair shop and laundromat at Kingfisher
Lake.
The third component focuses on the production of goods for
export to the outside and the sale of goods and services to
outsiders coming into the community. The Fort Hope study advo-
Community Planning
10-18
cates that such enterprises be based on feasibility considerations
and be pursued on a business footing with no control by the band
administration. The study identified handicraft production as one
activity meriting further investigation. The sale of timber pro-
duced on local timber limits to outside mills has been successful
at Gull Bay and may become feasible here too if the road arrives.
The community sees opportunities for expansion in tourism; it
would like to become involved in "world class tourism" of a kind
that doesn't exploit the environnment and it urges the government
to investigate the market for this type of tourist experience.
The completion of the Ogoki road would bring recreational
cottagers into the area, providing a new market for construction
and services. The establishment of the proposed Albany River
waterway park, which the community favors provided that
traditional uses are allowed to continue in it, may provide Fort
Hopians with further opportunities to serve tourists. Other
prospects for enterprises engaged in manufacturing for export as
well as domestic consumption doubtless exist; the furniture shop
at Big Trout Lake is one example that might be relevant to Fort
Hope.
The fourth compoaent calls for the creation of opportunities
for Fort Hopians to work in the "outside" economy, particularly in
its natural resource-based segment, as well as for continuing
access to hinterland resources for traditional uses. The study
outlines some of the specific opportunities, among them the
following: working in the woods operations on the northern part
of the Kimberly-Clark limits; employment in resource management
and environmental protection, whereby local people could take jobs
in tree planting and other forest regeneration activities, in fire
fighting, and as conservation, park, and enforcement officers;
work at the fire control centre that they propose the Ministry of
Natural Resources establish in Fort Hope; and employment in
mining, should development of promising deposits near the
community take place.
The fifth component of the strategy calls for action by
governments, working in concert with the community, to create the
external prerequisites for ensuring that development is beneficial
to the community. The recommendations of the Commission lend
strong support to many of the proposals stated or implied in the
study report and at the Fort Hope hearing.
Fort Hopians ask for recognition of their community's effect-
ive zone of influence, the hinterland on which they still rely for
its contribution to their survival. They require priority rights
of access for use and development of natural resources within this
territory, and they want their traplines exempted from quotas.
They expect to be consulted and be partners in decision making on
proposals by others affecting the hinterland and the community.
They want jobs in the new projects and a share of the revenues
generated by industrial operations. They advocate application of
the Environmental Assessment Act , 1975 to all proposed
undertakings, and want to take part in monitoring their effects.
Fort Hopians recommend that the Ministry of Natural
Resources' West Patricia and district land use guidelines not be
Community Planning
10-19
implemented until the necessary further investigations are made on
such matters as environmental carrying capacities, timber harvest-
ing methods, and regeneration. They want participation in such
investigations and opportunities to evaluate their results. And
they want to be in a position to contribute their own perspectives
and information to land use planning and decision making.
The community's members support the Government's proposal to
create the Albany River waterway park, which they see as a means
for preserving that area's sacred and historic significance. They
want jobs in the opening-up and operation of the park, and they
insist that the park regulations allow for the continuation of
traditional uses within it.
Fort Hopians are dismayed by the proliferation of ministries,
departments, and program branches with which they must interact.
They argue, justifiably, that this confusing situation impedes
communication and coordination and detracts from effectiveness,
and they recommend that all Ontario government agencies deal
directly with the native communities through a single agency to be
situated in the north.
The strategy and its components clearly cannot be
successfully implemented unless native people can acquire higher
skill and educational levels than they now possess. The Fort Hope
study has much to say about community members' needs for
sustained, on-the-job training related to management and other
employment opportunities that exist or can realistically be
created. On the other hand, it expresses disdain for the
short-lived, patchwork, and crisis-responsive make-work and
training programs that the community has suffered from all too
often. Sufficient funds and the best expertise obtainable are
desperately needed by native people to support their participation
in the future development of Ontario north of 50.
Of no less importance to the successful implementation of the
strategy's components is the commitment by governments to give
continuing encouragement to northern native peoples' desires and
initiatives for conducting their own long-range planning and for
participating in decision making on matters that vitally concern
their lives. On the part of sponsoring agencies, the nurturing of
community-based planning requires: funding, with no strings
attached apart from accountability; patience and understanding;
the making available of expert advice; and a willingness to work
as partners in the gathering of information and in the planning
itself when that is called for. What clearly is not required is a
planning process and timetable imposed from the outside.
A RECOMMENDED INTEGRATED PLANNING STRATEGY FOR THE FUTURE
Policy Goals and Principles
The Government of Ontario has no articulated policy for the
development of the north. While individual ministries, such as
Natural Resources, may have policy guidelines that are reflected
in their activities in the north, the Government as a whole
Community Planning
10-20
seems to have no conception of what sort of future it wishes to
see for the northern lialf of the province, still less how it is to
be achieved. Even in the days of the "province-wide" and
supposedly comprehensive Design for Development, a decade or more
ago, the half of the province north of 50° was virtually ignored
in the setting of goals, objectives, and programs. Perhaps the
only significant change in this respect was the creation of the
Commission itself, which at least seemed to imply a recognition
that policy guidelines of some sort were needed as an alternative
to viewing and treating the north as little more than a storehouse
of riches to be tapped for the benefit of the south. The
government as a whole has never explicitly acknowledged that it
regards the north as also a homeland with the potential for, and
the right to, a future as something more than just an economic
hinterland.
Genuine and meaningful change in approaches and programs on
the part of the Government of Ontario demands clear policy
direction: an explicit definition of just what it is that the
Government ultimately seeks to achieve and a touchstone against
which performance can be gauged. I am compelled to conclude, from
the evidence presented to me, that northerners must be accorded
greater control over both development and decision making, with a
view to bettering the northern environment in all its facets.
The Government of Ontario should adopt, as its main policy
goal for the north, the social, cultural and economic development
of northern communities and peoples to their fullest potential,
towards 1) economic parity with Ontario as a whole and 2) cultural
and economic self-sufficiency within the framework of the Ontario
society, economy, and government, according to values, objectives
and means chosen by northern communities and peoples themselves.
By adopting this goal, the Government would be, in effect,
acknowledging several crucially important development principles:
that development involves not just exploitation, but also growth
in well-being, personal development, opportunities and choices,
and self-reliance; that development is not charity or welfare but
a sound investment; that development must be based more on
northern models and less on southern ones; that community
development (of which economic, social, and political development
are but facets) must become the main future thrust; that the
planning and control of community development must be in hands of
the communities themselves; that governments' proper roles are to
facilitate community development, not impose it, and to ensure
coordinated design and delivery of their programs.
Northerners ' Planning Roles
If northerners wish to gain greater control over their own
destinies, they must also accept responsibility for articulating
their own development goals, objectives, and priorities more
clearly and explicitly than they have in the past. To respond to
development and planning initiatives imposed largely from the
outside, as northerners did in the case of the Ministry of Natural
Resources' land use planning, is not a particularly difficult
Community Planning
10-21
task. Much more onerous, but also potentially much more
rewarding, is northerners' task of specifying their priorities in
a positive, constructive, and proactive manner. In short,
northerners need to devise planning programs and processes that
are tailored to their needs and that can elicit the necessary full
participation of northern interest groups and individuals having a
stake in northern development.
While no government agency, however well-intentioned or
competently staffed, can carry out the required planning on behalf
of northerners, governments can contribute strong support to it in
several ways: by establishing institutional arrangements and
other preconditions for planning by northerners; by providing
information, funds, and expert advice; by coordinating agencies'
input and response to the planning; and by undertaking
complementary planning and research.
Even though the Commission placed itself in a position to
hear the views of northerners, it is little better fitted than
governments themselves to reach any but the broadest conclusions
regarding future directions for development in Ontario north of
50. I was neither mandated nor inclined to produce plans for
northern development; that is a task that northerners themselves
and others affected must assume responsibility for, with the
support of governments. Accordingly, my recommendations to the
Government of Ontario constitute advice on specific actions that
it can take to facilitate northern planning and development,
without detracting from the flexibility of northerners to carry
out their own planning and reach their own conclusions about
development.
My recommendations to the Government of Ontario advocate a
strategy that will provide each northern interest group having a
direct stake in northern development with opportunities to
determine and specify its own priorities through a kind of
planning that is positive, constructive, and proactive. This
strategy represents a major departure from the past, when
interest groups were not encouraged or assisted to come forward
with their own carefully formulated views about how development
should take place but were Instead placed in the adversarial
position of having to react to planning proposals and development
initiatives emanating from outside the north.
This strategy is crafted to ensure that planning by
northerners themselves can proceed unfettered by assumptions that
the terras and conditions of northern development are pre-ordained
by others and cannot be changed. And, it is based on my
conviction that northern interest groups, once armed with a clear
sense of their own priorities, will be able to negotiate with
considerable success on the trade-off and other issues outstanding
between them. My own view, based on what I have learned, is that
these issues may prove to be more tractable and amenable to
resolution than many people now believe. Moreover, while I am
convinced that strong pressures for northern development persist,
I also realize that the spate of major new development proposals
confronting northerners at the time that my Commission was
established has considerably abated, so that circumstances are now
u— 4 ; ■ -f " -^
^ I HiAyil <, h ] Y /Lo~^ -OK" Cr'c^u y I C^/''/'' Community Blahnin^ ■
10-22
more propitious for new planning initiatives to flourish, if not
for economic growth.
Components of the Strategy
Thrusts
The strategy that I am proposing has four main thrusts, which
are interdependent and mutually reinforcing and must be imple-
mented through a coordinated set of actions by governments; no
single one of thera will be sufficient to endow northerners with a
significant measure of control over planning and decision making
on development matters. In many instances, the strategy simply
assembles and "packages" recommendations detailed and
substantiated more fully elsewhere in this report.
The first thrust calls for actions to remove government com-
mitments and uncertainties respecting the allocation and manage-
ment of natural resources - commitments and uncertainties that
would impede the ability of northerners to determine and assert
their own priorities. Specifically, I am asking the Ministry of
Natural Resources to publish its land use guidelines for the West
Patricia area and Geraldton District and, when available, for
Moosonee District, to acknowledge that its land use guidelines are
merely broad statements of its intentions in the exercise of its
jurisdictional role and not statements of Government policy, to
clarify in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment the
relationship between its planning activities and the Environmental
Assessment Act , and to rescind the Memorandum of Agreement respec-
ting the future use of the Reed tract, as recommended in Chapter
5.
The second thrust calls for actions that would endow native
communities with a greater measure of control over the development
and use of natural resources in their hinterlands. As elsewhere
discussed, I am asking the Government of Ontario to work with the
communities towards designation of expanded reserves and
community-use areas within which native people would have prior
rights of access to develop and use natural resources and would be
placed in a position to negotiate terms and conditions with
prospective outside developers.
The third thrust, the obvious linch-pin of the whole
strategy, calls on governments to actively promote planning by
northern native and non-native communities and other northern
interest groups, to make available information and expert advice
when required and to conduct necessary research, to support viable
development projects identified through the planning, and to
coordinate the activities of the multitude of agencies providing
infrastructure and delivering programs to communities in Ontario
north of 50. I am asking the Government of Ontario to support,
reinforce, and complement the comprehensive planning that is now
in its inceptional stages in northern native communities and to
encourage and assist tourist operators, trappers, and other
Interest groups to carry out their own sectoral planning.
The fourth thrust, a precondition for success in the other
three, calls on governments to devise and establish a
multipartite mechanism that would coordinate administration of the
Community Planning
10-23
planning overall and provide a forum for ongoing negotiation
between interest groups and the resolution of issues outstanding
between them.
Removal of Commitments and Uncertainties
The resource allocation and planning activities of Ontario
Government ministries and the evident bias of some ministries
towards economic development based on use of natural resources to
meet markets outside the north signifies the perpetuation of past
modes of development and decision making and hence impedes the
ability of northerners to chart their own future. My recommended
strategy is intended to "clear the slate" of existing natural
resource commitments, real or perceived, that put northerners on
the defensive.
The prescriptions for development embedded in the Ministry of
Natural Resources' strategic land use plans and district land use
guidelines, together with the equivocal status accorded to the
latter as a basis for reaching decisions on northern development,
continue to be a source of apprehension and uncertainty for
northerners. Moreover, the options offered for public response in
the district plan documents were all compatible with the
Ministry's view of how development should take place, and hence
were so narrowly ranging that they inhibited the ability of native
people and some other northern interest groups to come forward
with strong statements of their own priorities - priorities that
would likely have been genuine alternatives to all the choices
offered. Finally, the plan documents failed to evaluate the
social, economic, and natural environmental consequences of their
prescriptions, so that northerners were given insufficent
information on which to formulate their responses. And, in all
these respects, the planning was carried out with scant regard to
the good planning principles embodied in the Environmental
Assessment Act, 1975 .
The recommendations on land use planning made in Chapter 8 of
this report are intended to bring planning under the Environmental
Assessment Act and to clarify the status of existing guidelines.
These recommendations are focused primarily on the planning for
the West Patricia area and Moosonee and Geraldton districts, which
together include most of Ontario north of 50.
I have recorded elsewhere my apprehension that major
decisions regarding resource allocation and resource management
may be reached without sufficient input by northerners and
sufficient consideration of the consequences for northern
interest groups. While 1 accept that Cabinet ministers are
empowered to make such decisions, 1 am convinced that northerners
expect them to do so only when they have been armed with the best
possible factual information and the strongest possible expression
of northerners' priorities. The Ministry of Natural Resources'
land use guidelines are intended to establish a resource
allocation pattern as a spatial framework for more detailed
resource management planning and ultimately for implementation of
management plans. I am concerned that the Minister of Natural
Resources ' Insistence on his prerogatives to make decisions about
Community Planning
10-24
resource allocation outside the reach of any formal planning
process could interrupt the continuum between the land use
planning and the resource management planning, so that resource
management plans asserting priorities for a particular use could
be devised and implemented without serious consideration of the
possibility that other use priorities might make greater sense to
northerners. I believe that the continuum must be re-established
through application of the Environmental Assessment Act at appro-
priate stages in the Ministry's planning system in order to ensure
that the Act's provisions regarding investigation of alternatives
to a proposed undertaking are applied to resource management plans
before they are implemented, as I have already recommended. I also
conclude that the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of
Natural Resources must devise and publish a comprehensive and
detailed strategy for applying the Act to the latter 's planning
system and its resource allocation and resource management
activities.
The future of the Reed tract raised issues leading to the
creation of the Commission and remains a source of concern and
uncertainty to northerners. I have concluded, for reasons
detailed elsewhere in Chapter 5, that the Memorandum of Agreement
regarding the allocation of this tract to large-scale timber
harvesting can now be rescinded. To do so would strengthen the
opportunities for northern interest groups to advance their own
priorities for the area in a prospective manner.
In reaching that conclusion, I must point out that I see
nothing intrinsically "wrong" about allocation of this tract
wholly or in part to a large pulp and paper company. That may
indeed turn out to be a beneficial future for the tract, but it
should be regarded for now as but one of several alternatives.
The Ministry of Natural Resources ' policies and intents
regarding the priority that it accords to timber harvesting are
manifest in the pattern of forest management units that it has
demarcated across the province wherever potential for commercial
timber production is known or considered to exist and within which
it may allocate rights to harvest timber through licences and
agreements. Two kinds of units exist. Company management
units are areas for which large, integrated pulp and paper
companies hold Order-in-Council licences or forest management
agreements conferring on them long-term rights to harvest timber
for their own mills according to mutually agreed-upon management
plans. In the case of Crown management units, which are of
greater concern in this development and planning strategy, the
Ministry may allocate the timber supplies in all or part of a unit
to independent sawmillers and other operators through shorter-terra
licences and volume agreements.
The Crown management units that the Ministry has demarcated
extensively across the southern part of Ontario north of 50
consist in the main of timber stands that have not been allocated
or exploited. Two of these, the Berens River CMU and the Lake St.
Joseph CMU, occupy the southern part of the Reed tract, while
others, to the east, extend as far north as the Albany River.
The very existence of these units signals to northerners and
the industry an at least tentative intention on the Ministry's
part to eventually assign to them a priority for commercial timber
harvesting should market and alternative timber supply
Community Planning
10-25
considerations so dictate. But here again, as with the Reed
tract, commercial timber harvesting is only one of several
alternatives that northerners and others might wish to evaluate.
The Ministry should remove from designation all unallocated and
unexploited Crown management units in the original Reed area and
elsewhere north of the forest access road network in Ontario north
of 50.
Assertion of Native Communities' Rights of Access
to Hinterland Resources
The hinterland of a native community comprises the territory
on which the community has traditionally relied for survival and
jignificant income. The maps in The Kayahna Region Land Use and
Occupancy Study show the expected land use pattern. Trapping,
hunting, fishing and other resource-using activities are pursued
most intensively near the communities and with decreasing intens-
ity towards the peripheries of the hinterlands. Thus defined to
include their least utilized portions, the hinterlands of adjacent
communities are seen to coalesce and together occupy a large area
in northwestern Ontario.
Native people told the Commission on countless occasions of
their fears that timber harvesting and other intrusive develop-
ments would compromise their rights of access to their hinterlands
for trapping, fishing and hunting and could bring about disastrous
disruption of wildlife and fish habitat. While these fears may
seem somewhat exaggerated, they are founded on experience.
As the Fort Hope study and other evidence demonstrated,
continuing access by the native communities to natural resources
in their hinterlands is a precondition for their growth and
development, and perhaps even their survival. The hinterlands can
contribute in a number of ways: by producing commodities for
local consumption to offset the high costs of imported
alternatives, by yielding products for sale in processed or raw
forms to outside markets, and by offering the wilderness values
and biological resources that can attract growing numbers of
tourists and recreationists for whom local native people can
provide goods and services.
Elsewhere in this report, I have made recommendations to
ensure that northern native communities will be able to secure
an even greater flow of benefits from use of their hinterland
resources than they have in the past. To summarize them briefly,
I have proposed that the existing reserves be enlarged by
alienation from Crown lands to a size sufficient to encompass the
resources on which the communities most intensively rely and that
settlements now lacking reserves be provided with adequate ones.
I have further proposed the delineation of larger community-use
areas comprising those lands and waters currently sustaining the
community through trapping, hunting, fishing and wilderness
tourism, or required to do so in the future.
While I am recommending that native people be accorded a much
higher priority in the development and use of resources in the
hinterland community-use areas, I am not proposing that they
should be granted sole rights of access to them. To do so would
be inequitable and, moreover, could stifle development of the
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10-26
north for the benefit of all northerners and affected outside
interests. Instead, I have made recommendations that would ensure
that no outside development proposal significantly affecting a
community or its community-use area could be implemented without
prior consultation with the community. I have recommended the
creation of a Northern Development Authority as an independent and
neutral body empowered to facilitate negotiations between the
affected community and a proponent, with a view to securing agree-
ment on terms and conditions that would enhance benefits to the
community. Such terms and conditions could include stipulations
regarding on-the-job training, employment, environmental
protection, and the proponent's other obligations to foster
community development as a good corporate citizen. They could
also set out the community's obligations to the proponent.
But if native communities are to benefit as fully as
they could from their own resource-based activities in their
hinterlands and to participate to the greatest possible extent in
the non-native enterprises that may be established there, they
will have to extend their community planning to encompass the
hinterlands. Native communities must determine and clearly
articulate their own values, priorities, goals, and objectives
before they can gain a clear understanding of the most
economically-productive relationship between their communities and
the natural environments surrounding them, before they can put
forward their own positive hinterland plans as an alternative to
the Ministry of Natural Resources' land use guidelines, and before
they can negotiate favorable terras and conditions with outside
developers under the aegis of the proposed Northern Development
Authority.
Strengthening Planning by Northern
Native Communities
The story of governments' efforts to foster the social and
economic well-being of northern native communities has been
largely one of millions of dollars being spent on a multitude of
well-intentioned but mainly ill-conceived, abysmally coordinated,
short-lived, and ultimately ineffectual development and assistance
programs, too often out of control and running amok. The evident
failure of these efforts to generate substantial benefits has
become a source of frustration to both the agencies delivering
programs and the intended beneficiaries. And the demonstrated
willingness of governments to support community projects and
native enterprises that have little chance of success and to
respond to employment crises with short-term, make-work programs
that have no lasting effects has fostered an expectation that
government agencies will remain the source of inexhaustible funds,
tappable with minimal requirements for financial and performance
accountability. Although some successes have been attained, for
example in tourism development, they are few and far between.
While the Commission could substantiate this conclusion by
presenting a litany of programs gone awry through lack of proper
planning, coordination, and performance evaluation, no useful
purpose would be served by doing so. Instead, it prefers to focus
Community Planning
10-27
attention on the prerequisites for better planning and program
coordination in the future.
Government agencies are well aware that coordination of their
programs must be improved and they have taken constructive steps
to do so. However, while better coordination is essential, it
cannot by itself resolve the development problems confronting
northern native communities. Beyond this, governments must now
tackle the even more formidable task of devising coherent sets of
policies and objectives regarding the future development of native
communities in Ontario's far north. But policy formulation and
objective setting are not activities that governments can
accomplish satisfactorily in isolation from their clients.
Instead they are activities that demand sustained input by native
agencies and communities over a considerable time span.
Comprehensive planning by northern communities can contribute
centrally to the derivation of mutually acceptable policies that
provide a coherent and consistent rationale for the identification
of program needs and the coordination and delivery of programs and
to the involvement of native people in charting their own
conmunities' futures.
Native communities in Ontario were made more fully aware of
the concepts of community planning in 1980, when the Ontario
Region of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development initiated its Comprehensive Community Planning
process. This planning, as outlined in DlAND's Comprehensive
Community Planning and Development Strategy Paper of 1983,
embodies some innovative and progressive principles that boded
well to secure for native communities greater involvement in their
own planning than they had ever had before. The document outlines
a team planning approach that provides opportunities for the
bands, DIAND, and other agencies to work in an effective way
towards identifying and achieving the bands' goals and
aspirations, while considering each participating band as the
primary actor. According to the document, a comprehensive
community plan must cover a broad range of fields, including
physical, economic, socio-cultural , site, environmental and
recreational planning, and it must present an implementation
strategy. DlAND's report enumerates the expected benefits from
the planning: improved program delivery and services, improved
departmental operations, promotion of leadership development at
the local level, the transfer of skills to the communities, the
growing awareness in the communities of strengths, weaknesses and
opportunities, and the development of Indian self-determination
and self-sufficiency. DIAND has taken on the role of coordinating
the input of other federal government departments to the planning
and development process and sees planning as a route towards
improving the access of communities to provincial government
services.
Unfortunately, in the case of the far northern native
settlements at least, the performance of DlAND's comprehensive
community planning has not matched its initial promise. As
recently as a year ago, the planning had not even been initiated
for most reserves, although work was under way in some. Other
agencies had completed planning-related studies, most of them
Community Planning
10-28
focusing on capital development planning and physical
infrastructure without necessarily ascertaining the real needs and
priorities of the communities themselves or their relationships
with their hinterlands. Some of the community planning actually
in progress and almost all of the ancillary work by other agencies
had been carried out by consultants. Moreover, the Commission has
also learned that DIAND's Planning and Review Unit has been
encountering staffing problems, cut-backs in funding, and
difficulties in establishing an effective working interface with
provincial ministries and some other federal government
departments.
UIAND's comprehensive community planning is also encountering
resistance from at least some of its intended clients. The Fort
Hope report was skeptical about the likelihood that the planning
program being mounted by the department for native communities in
the north would prove any better fitted than earlier economic,
social, and community development programs to bring about any
significant improvement in their lot. It said: "... As the
1970' s ended and the '80's began, DIAND (perhaps in desperation)
began promoting and pushing 'planning' on the Bands ....
'Planning' will be as ineffective as all the rest of the
'development' since the I960' s for it bears the unmistakable
characteristics of all the rest:
(i) it was DIAND's idea and they drew up the Terms
of Reference ....
(ii) it is underfunded;
(Hi) it is done by urban-based, urban- bias ed ,
outside consultants .... ; and
(iv) the length of time actually spent in the
community is incredibly small - the plans and
reports are all done somewhere else,"
The Commission's own experience with its project at Fort Hope
is clearly relevant to the planning that the Department of Indian
Affairs and Northern Development has initiated in the far northern
settlements. The Fort Hope study was conducted by Fort Hopians
themselves with outside support but no outside interference over a
period of more than three years. The study has made an
indispensable contribution to the community's awareness of its
circumstances, to its ability to identify needs and opportunities,
and to the emergence of a consensus on its directions for the
future. The study constituted the first stage of its community
planning and is a prerequisite for success in all later stages, on
which it is now ready to embark. DIAND's planning elements -
physical planning, economic planning, socio-cultural planning, and
all the rest - make little sense unless based on the kind of
consensus-building that Fort Hopians have been able to accomplish
through their own study.
The Commission supported the Fort Hope study by funding it
and by providing for the services of an experienced and dedicated
northern professional who became accepted by the community and was
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10-29
willing to contribute to community consensus-building over the
duration of the project. The key ingredients for success in the
Fort Hope study - adequate funds (without strings), appropriate
expertise, and sufficient time - seem unlikely to be attainable by
DIAND's comprehensive community planning as now constituted, with
its small district staff and heavy reliance on shorter-term
assignments of work to consultants, most of whom lack the right
kind of northern experiences.
A compelling case can be made for a much more catalytic and
central contribution by the Ontario Government to the planning
efforts of northern native communities. Status Indian people may
be "wards" of the federal Government, but they are also citizens
of the province who have suffered from both benign paternalism and
abject neglect and deserve all the suport that they can get.
Also ignored have been Metis and non-status natives, who have been
less shielded by the federal Government's "protective" umbrella.
However, investment in the future of northern native people has to
do with much more than giving charity to the underpriviledged or
the righting of historic wrongs, and its benefits extend far
beyond reducing the provincial Government's welfare bill. The
Ontario Government's support of native development initiatives
that are the product of consensus-building within a community
planning process that native people control would be an indispen-
sable contribution to native self-sufficiency and self-reliance.
Self-sufficient and self-reliant people can be only an asset to
society as a whole.
The results of the research at Fort Hope constituted the
necessary first step in comprehensive planning there and laid the
foundation for its later stages. That research concentrated on
the settlement itself rather than on the settlement's hinterland.
On the other hand, Kayahna's land use and occupancy studies
focused on establishing its communities' territorial spheres of
influence by exploring the functional relationships between
communities and their hinterlands, and thus set the stage for
fuller documentation of the contribution of the hinterlands to
subsistence and economic activities and eventually for the deri-
vation of land use plans. The fundamentally different research
objectives and approaches that evolved in Fort Hope and Kayahna
may well serve as general models for similar work in other native
communities; however, each community must be encouraged to design
its own research objectives and approaches in accordance with its
own circumstances and consistent with its own aspirations.
Settlement-oriented and hinterland-oriented approaches
complement each other and could be integrated to produce a
powerful foundation for further planning and eventually, through
planning, a clear statement of development priorities. By
sponsoring adoption of these two research approaches in other
native communities, the provincial Government could build on work
already shown by the Commission to be promising. DIAND's
comprehensive community planning embodies principles to which the
provincial Government could give its whole-hearted support were
the planning initiatives to be made more responsive to
communities' needs and the course of the planning itself to be
left more firmly in communities' control.
Community Planning
10-30
A great many ministries of the Ontario Government have a
major potential contribution to make toward the success of
comprehensive planning by northern native communities and the
developments that may ensue. The Ministry of Natural Resources is
an obvious key actor through its control over the allocation and
management of Crown land resources; so, too, is the Ministry of
the Environment, charged as it is with administering the
Environmental Protection Act and the Environmental Assessment Act .
The Ministry of Northern Affairs has a mandate to provide
northerners with levels of service and access to the Government
comparable with those available in the rest of the province. The
Ministry of Tourism and Recreation has responsibilities that
impinge on planning and development in the tourism sector. The
Ministry of Community and Social Services delivers essential
programs and services for native people both on and off reserves.
The list is far from complete.
Moreover, a surprising number of branches and committees
within provincial government ministries are discharging responsi-
bilities related to the formulation of provincial policies toward
native people or the coordination and delivery of programs for
them. Because ihost of this ongoing work is carried on behind the
scenes, the public has had little inkling of its existence, let
alone its substance. This must change. The Commission is con-
vinced that the Government now adopt a more aggressive and visible
policy on planning and development of the province's far northern
native communities and their hinterlands.
The Government of Ontario should reach agreement with the
Government of Canada and northern native people on the scope,
goals, operating principles, procedures and funding of long-term,
coordinated federal- provincial planning for northern native
communities. In so doing, it should seek to strengthen its
contribution to the comprehensive community planning process
alread embarked upon by the Department of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development.
Initiation of Sectoral Planning by Tourism
and Other Interest Groups
Implementation of the Commission's recommendations regarding
the recognition and delineation of community-use areas would
accord to native people priority rights of access to hinterland
resources for development of their potentials for trapping,
hunting, fishing, and other resource-dependent activities
including wilderness tourism. Acquisition of these priority
rights by native people over the area generally north of the 7th
Community Planning
10-31
and Uth baselines and the Albany River would not exclude
prospective non-native interests from gaining access to resources
there, but their ability to do so would be contingent on the
satisfactory outcome of consultation with the affected community
or communities on the terms and conditions to be met. The
community-use areas thus recognized would form the spatial
framework within which the Commission's recommendations regarding
comprehensive planning by native people for their communities and
associated hinterlands would be implemented. The proposed
planning would enable people in native communities to determine
and specify their requirements for hinterland resources to support
their commercial and subsistence activities and hence to engage in
productive negotiation with prospective outside developers and
interest groups.
Sectoral interest groups - tourist operators, trappers,
wilderness advocates, and others - have an obvious major stake in
community-based planning and should place themselves in a position
to participate in it and to influence its outcome. Each interest
group can enhance its clout in doing so by organizing its
individual members into associations for purposes of planning,
setting objectives, seeking funds, and presenting a unified front
in asserting its priorities when dealing with government agencies,
communities, and competing groups.
In the case of tourism, mainly non-native interests have
already secured representation through the Northern Ontario
Tourist Outfitters Association (NOTO) and its member groups and
through the travel associations established for regions having
such evocative names as Sunset Country, North of Superior, and
James Bay Frontier. The recent initiatives made by some native
tourist operators to establish their own associations in the
Lowlands and on the Shield merit the encouragement and support
that they are now being given by federal and provincial government
agencies. Trappers in the southern part of Ontario north of 50
have formed associations to safeguard and promote their interests;
the Sioux Lookout Trappers Council pressed its case with particu-
lar vigour at hearings of the Commission. Native trappers, too,
are now contemplating the creation of associations of their own.
The integrated planning strategy advocated by the Commission
is designed to provide northern communities and interest groups
with sufficient opportunities to determine and promote their own
priorities in a manner that is constructive and not hampered by
preconceptions that the course of northern development has already
been set by outsiders. Once armed with a strong sense of their
own objectives, northern communities and interest groups will be
well equipped to participate forcefully and constructively in
negotiations on tradeoffs that must inevitably take place. The
Government of Ontario, and particularly the Ministry of Northern
Affairs, could encourage and facilitate the formation of
associations representing sectoral interests north of 50 and the
initiation and conduct of sectoral planning by such associations.
A major objective of sectoral planning by interest groups, in
collaboration with government agencies, should be to delineate
areas having strong natural resource potentials for particular
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10-32
uses and within which particular sectors would be accorded
priority in the allocation and management of resources.
Delineation of such resource management areas, as they could be
termed, would represent a simple extension to other sectors of the
principles underlying the provincial Government's designation of
forest management units and agreement areas within which timber
harvesting is accorded the highest priority and the interests of
other users may be accommodated to a degree but are subordinate.
The chapter on tourism in this report advocates the creation
of tourism management areas to encompass lands and waters having
particularly strong potentials for wilderness tourism and within
which the priorities of tourism and activities compatible with it
would be paramount, though not necessarily to the exclusion of
timber harvesting and other resource-using activities where they
could be carried on without compromising wilderness tourism
objectives. The concept of tourism management areas is obviously
less applicable to those road-accessible southwestern parts of
Ontario north of 50 where irrevocable commitments to large-scale
timber harvesting have already been made and where the main
concerns of the tourism industry centre on the rehabilitation of
deteriorating physical plant and the conversion of base and
outpost camps into family resort operations.
Application of the resource management area concept to areas
not already deeply committed to other uses could be extended
beyond wilderness tourism to trapping and other forest-dependent
uses, but the Commission sees no particular need to do so at this
time. Forest protection areas, as recommended, could play a
related role. While wilderness tourism is apparently the sector
offering the greatest prospects for generating income and
employment over the greater part of Ontario north of 50, it should
not conflict with trapping, hunting, or the cutting of timber for
local construction and fuel. Although some curtailment of
commercial fishing may be necessary in order to support tourist
angling, this is unlikely a serious constraint given the weak
long-terra outlook for this industry.
The concept of the tourism management area can be fruitfully
applied to the hinterlands of native communities, where high
quality terrain, biological, cultural, historic and archaeological
resources exist on a scale sufficient to support wilderness
tourism. The delineation of such areas therefore calls for
inventory and evaluation of the resource base to be carried out
collaboratively by communities, prospective native tourism
associations, and the Ministry of Natural Resources, which has the
mandate to allocate natural resources and also the necessary
technical expertise.
The concept of tourism management areas is essentially a
resource supply concept, to be implemented through this process of
inventory and evaluation, much of which has already been carried
out by the Ministry of Natural Resources. But, once established,
tourism management areas can serve much broader purposes.
Recognition by the Government of a tourism management area would
signify Government's commitment to the preservation, allocation,
management, and enhancement of the natural and cultural resources
Community Planning
10-33
within it for the benefit of the wilderness tourism industry.
Tourism management areas would constitute the framework within
which planning for wilderness tourism development could take place
and that would assure for the tourism industry that security of
resource supply, information flow, and consistency in resource
management decision making required by potential investors. Thus,
implementation of the tourism management area concept could
contribute crucially to the success of tourist enterprises and to
their ability to generate sorely needed income and employment.
While native communities and tourism associations have a
central role to play in comprehensive tourism planning by
providing its initial impetus and by identifying their own
priorities, they cannot carry it out on their own. Comprehensive
planning for the sector encompasses the jurisdictions and requires
the expertise of both levels of government and several agencies.
The allocation and management of most of the natural resource
supply foundations of the tourism industry in the north is the
mandated responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Responsibility for tourism development in Ontario rests with the
Ministry of Tourism and Recreation. A host of other agencies are
involved in the provision of infrastructure and funds for tourism
development. The market for wilderness tourism in far northern
Ontario needs to be more fully probed, and a marketing and
promotion strategy devised. Given the large number of government
agencies and private groups having significant and often
conflicting interests in the tourism field, the Ministry of
Northern Affairs could have particularly crucial leadership and
coordinating roles to perform.
Facilitating Coordination and Negotiation
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment advocates a
northern-oriented planning system in which compehensive community
planning, sectoral planning by northern interest groups, and
planning and programming by government agencies interact with each
other and reinforce each other. Implementation of the
Commission's recommendations would help to ensure that each
community and interest group is enabled to determine its own
realistic priorities and to advance them in constructive
negotiation with other interest groups and with the government
agencies, including the Ministry of Natural Resources as a primary
protagonist for outside interests as well as allocator and manager
of Crown lands. The Commission sees the conduct of such
negotiations as the only feasible basis for synthesis of a truly
comprehensive plan for the north, expressing the common will of
northerners and reconciling the diverging concerns of groups to
the maximum possible extent.
The required coordination and synthesis will not take place
automatically. The federal and provincial Governments must devise
and create mechanisms crafted to ensure that they do. Northern
planning clearly needs a multipartite forum providing for
negotiation between representatives of governments, communities,
and interest groups and an administrative mechanism to coordinate
funding, information flows, the provision of expert advice,
program delivery, and other essential inputs and to monitor
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10-34
progress. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development is an obvious participant, as it already has mandated
responsibilities for coordinating federal government departments'
activities impinging on Indian people. The Ministry of Northern
Affairs should accept the corresponding role on the part of the
many provincial government agencies having responsibilities that
impact on northern planning and development. The question of how
northern native people can best represent themselves on planning
and negotiation matters is one to be addressed by native people
themselves. I can do no more than observe that too much political
rhetoric in the process vd.ll surely wreck it and that the native
communities themselves, which have a particularly great stake in
the outcome, must be accorded clear channels of access to whatever
negotiation forum and administrative mechanism are established.
The securing of an effective input to the process by sectoral
interest groups would likely prove to be less difficult, provided
that their individual members organize themselves into
associations that can negotiate with a strong collective voice.
The Commission has examined the potential of a Northern
Development Authority, recommended elsewhere in this report, as a
body designed primarily to facilitate negotiation of development
agreements between communities and project proponents, to take on
the additional functions of becoming a focus for coordinating
northern planning and providing a forum for the resolution of
differences between participants. This is an issue on which the
Commission finds itself unable to make a clear recommendation.
While the Commission has recommended that the Northern Development
Authority be given the small investigative capability that it
needs in order to back up the negotiation of development
agreements, it hesitates to saddle it with the additional planning
functions required to keep northern planning on course. On the
other hand, the Commission does not want implementation of its
recommendations to proliferate new bureaucratic structures
designed to meet the needs of the only 30,000 people living in
Ontario north of 50. The Commission concludes that the provincial
Government can best address the issue.
Community Planning
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Need For Institutional Change
2.1 Recommendation:
That a Northern Development Authority be established by
special legislation as an independent agency, reporting to
the Legislature, through the Minister of Northern Affairs.
2.2 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered to
negotiate resource use agreements with developers proposing
to develop northern resources.
2.3 Recommendation:
That resource use agreements be preconditions to proposed
resource developments considered to be significant by the
Northern Development Authority.
2.4 Recommendation:
That if the Northern Development Authority and a developer
cannot agree on the terms and conditions of a resource use
agreement, then the parties may request the Minister of
Northern Affairs to resolve such conflicts in whatever
manner the Minister may deem appropriate.
2.5 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be administered by
three directors, to be named by the Cabinet with the
consent of the Legislature, for seven-year terms; that one
of the directors be selected from a list of candidates
proposed by municipalities and towns north of 50; that one
director be selected from a list of candidates proposed by
Indian communities in the north; and that one director,
who must be a resident of Ontario near or north of 50, be
selected by Cabinet; that one director be appointed' as
initial managing director of the Authority for a two-year
term; and that subsequently, the three directors be
empowered to decide amongst themselves who should
subsequently serve as managing director for a similar
term.
2.6 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered to
monitor compliance with resource use agreements and have
the legal capacity to enforce such agreements.
Recommendations
R-2
2.7 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered and
funded to permit it to carry out activities and implement
programs which are of direct and immediate value to its
principal function of determining the appropriate content
of resource use agreements, as well as negotiating, imple-
menting, monitoring and enforcing such agreements; that
among such activities be the coordination of all related
regulatory approvals, the design and implementation of
occupational and business training programs, the operation
of an information centre on government economic development
programs, and the acting as co-proponent of undertakings
north of 50 for purposes of assessment under the
Environmental Assessment Act.
Protecting the Northern Environment
3.1. Recommendation:
That for purposes of environmental assessment under the
Environmental Assessment Act of undertakings on Crown land,
the Government of Ontario, through the ministry or
ministeries most involved in the management or regulation
of the resource or activity concerned, be the proponent or
co-proponent of such undertakings; and that the Northern
Development Authority be a co-proponent for all
undertakings north of 50 for which a resource use agreement
has been negotiated.
3.2. Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario develop and introduce
procedures for identifying proponents at the earliest
possible stage of the environmental assessment process
under the Environmental Assessment Act .
3.3 Recommendation:
That the Minister of the Environment be empowered to
designate proponents for undertakings subject to the
Environment Assessment Act .
3.4 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Act be amended to require
pre-submission consultation by the proponent, government
and interested parties; that procedures for pre-submission
consultation continue to be established through the
publication of guidelines by the Ministry of Environment.
Recommendations
R-3
3.5 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Act and Section 5(3)
thereof be amended to require that the environmental
assessment document also contain a description of pre —
submission consultation which indicates who was involved
and what matters were discussed.
3.6 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario develop specific and
quantifiable ecological factors for use in the assessment
process under the Environmental Assessment Act .
3.7 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Board develop guidelines
to assist its determination of who has standing before the
Board; and that such guidelines provide that standing
shall be granted to any native community which may be
concerned about any effects of an undertaking.
3.8 Recommendation:
That the public record maintained by the Ministry of the
Environment for undertakings subject to environmental
assessment include any report or study relied on by the
proponent or by any Government agency reviewing the
environmental assessment.
3.9 Recommendation:
That copies of the public record be maintained by the
Ministry of the Environment for proposed undertakings north
of 50 at the Northern Development Authority and at affected
northern communities in Band offices.
3.10 Recommendation:
That for every undertaking subject to the Environmental
Assessment Act , the Ministry of the Environment prepare a
concise summary or screening document that describes the
proposed undertaking, sets out the schedule contemplated
for its completion, identifies a proponent of the
undertaking, provides a preliminary evaluation of potential
environmental effects and contains a copy of any guidelines
for preparing the environmental assessment document issued
by the Ministry.
Recommendations
R-4
3.11 Recommendation:
That the public have access to any record maintained by the
Minister of the Environment under the Environmental
Assessment Act with respect to a proposed undertaking from
the time the screening document is released
3.12 Recommendation:
That the requirements for public notice under the
Environmental Assessment Act be expanded to provide for
earlier and more extensive dissemination of information to
the public about proposed under takings by:
(a) immediate and widespread public notice and
dissemination of the screening document by the
Ministry of the Environment when all informa-
tion required for the document is available.
(b) similar public notice by the Ministry of the
receipt of the completion of an environmental
assessment document indicating how interested
persons may have access to the document and how
submissions commenting on the document may be
made in order to be included in the
Government's review of the environmental
assessment document; and
(c) similar public notice by the Ministry of
completion of the Government's review of the
environmental assessment document, including
how interested persons may request a hearing.
3.13 Recommendation:
That wide-spread public notice by advertisement and mail-
ing be given of any decision to hold a hearing by the
Environmental Assessment Board; that such notice not be
restricted to notification of previously identified
persons; and that a minimum of 60 days notice be given of
any hearing involving an undertaking north of 50.
3.14 Recommendation:
That public notice under the Environmental Assessment Act
involving undertakings that either the Ministry of the
Environment or the Northern Development Authority consider
to be of interest to northern communities be made in the
appropriate native language and provided to potentially
interested local governments, Band Councils and northern
residents; and that all such notice indicate what further
notices, if any, will be given.
Recommendations
R-5
3.15 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of the Environment's publication, "EA
Update", include all requirements for public notice, both
in general and with respect to particular assessments; and
that "EA Update" be distributed in a timely manner to all
northern communities.
3.16 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Act be amended to specify
that the environmental assessment document contains a full
report on all public response or consultation in which the
proponent was involved while planning and designing the
undertaking and preparing the assessment.
3.17 Recommendation:
That all class assessments under the Environmental
Assessment Act effecting areas north of 50 contain a
"bump-up" provision to ensure that environmentally
significant undertakings within the class are subject to
individual assessment.
3.18 Recommendation:
That each "bump-up" provision in a class assessment under
the Environmental Assessment Act indicate the circumstances
in which the "bump-up" is to occur - e.g., by request of
affected persons, by identification of resource-use
conflicts, and by criteria such as unique ecological
factors which call for individual assessment.
3.19 Recommendation:
That north of 50, funding for public participation in the
environmental assessment process be mandatory under the
Environmental Assessment Act ; and that a special fund be
established on an experimental basis to fund participants
in the environmental assessment process to which proponents
and government ministries or agencies contribute, as may be
required by the Minister of the Environment.
3.20 Recommendation:
That funding for public participation in the environmental
assessment process be provided to groups or individuals
with a relevant interest in the matter, to the extent that
financial assistance is needed to ensure adequate partici-
pation and the presentation of all relevant views.
Recommendations
R-6
3.21 Recommendation:
That the public participation fund be administered by an
"arms-length" body (see Recommendation 3.24).
3.22 Recommendation:
That, with the assistance of interested persons, criteria
be developed to guide decisions on allocating funds to
persons for participation in the environmental assessment
process under the Environmental Assessment Act ; that these
criteria give special consideration to the needs of
northern residents and to others with needs arising from
the nature of their interests or their place of residence;
and that these criteria also establish appropriate require-
ments for accounting by recipients of funds received for
participation.
3.23 Recommendation:
That, a list of approved uses for funding of participation
in the environmental assessment process be developed by an
"arms-length" body and include funding for written sub-
missions on the environmental assessment document, expert
assistance in preparing submissions, research, expert
witnesses, legal counsel, translation and communications.
3.24 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee be
directed by the Minister of the Environment to advise,
following a thorough investigation involving full public
participation, on the following matters:
(1) all exemption and designation requests received by the
Minister;
(2) the Guidelines for Pre-Submission Consultation and the
pre-submission consultation process;
(3) class assessment procedures, including "bump-up"
provisions;
(4) procedures for early determination of the proponent;
(5) criteria for funding public participation in the
environmental assessment process (including the
selection of applicants for funding) and account-
ability for the use of the funds; and
(6) procedures for resolving interprovincial and federal
provincial conflicts.
Recommendations
R-7
3.25 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee
administer the public participation fund as called for in
Recommendation 3.19 and 3.21 and decide on applications for
funding.
3.26 Recommendation:
That the Committee annually review and report on its
activities and the state of environmental assessment in
Ontario to the Legislature, through the Minister of the
Environment.
3.27 Recommendtion:
That given the sensitivity of the environment and the
unique circumstances of development in the north, the
Ministry of the Environment designate all private
undertakings which it finds to have significant
environmental effects north of 50 for environmental
assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act.
3.28 Recommendation:
That in the determination of the "significance" of the
environmental effects of any undertaking by the Minister of
the Environment, the unique environment of northern Ontario
and its importance to the socio-economic health of its
residents, be considered, as well as expressions of public
concern and recommendations from the Environmental
Assessment Advisory Committee and the proposed Northern
Development Authority.
3.29 Recommendation:
That no further undertakings be exempted by the Minister of
the Environment from the Environmental Assessment Act on
the basis of historical criteria such as "grandfathering"
or "advanced stage of planning" north of 50.
3.30 Recommendation:
That all aspects (including related infrastructure, such as
access roads) of site-specific undertakings subject to
assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act be
covered by a single comprehensive environmental asessment.
Recommendations
R-8
3.31 Recommendation:
That the Minister of the Environment designate all private
undertakings for environmental assessment where related
public undertakings are subject to the Environmental
Assessment Act.
3.32 Recommendation:
That the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee after
public consultation, develop guidelines and procedures for
environmental assessments of undertakings with trans-border
or interjurisdictional effects in order to lessen jurisdic-
tional disputes.
3.33 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario become directly associated
with international research efforts and undertake increased
research into the effects of acid precipitation on the
forests, game, waterfowl and wildlife of northern Ontario
(particularly on all species believed to be affected by
such precipitation).
3.34 Recommendation:
That fines levied on offenders of environmental legislation
be increased to a maximum level greater than or equal to
the costs of abatement, to the extent possible.
3.35 Recommendation:
That a large portion of the monies collected from environ-
mental prosecution and fines be allocated to the local area
impacted by the pollution, to be spent according to needs
determined by local residents.
3.36 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of the Environment increase its
environmental detection and enforcement staff, some of whom
should specialize in the detecting and enforcement of
particular pollutants and should not be tied to regional
offices.
Recommendations
R-9
3.37 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario provide additional funding
for scientific research to improve on the Ontario Water
Management Objectives and allow for better documentation on
the environmental effects of new and little known
substances.
3.38 Recommendation:
That the Water Management Objectives be enacted as regula-
tions and enable prosecution for violation of the
regulations.
3.39 Recommendation:
That more funding be committed toward expansion of know-
ledge and expertise in the field of abatement technology.
3.40 Recommendation:
That public and industry input into the decision-making
process be increased in the EPA and OWRA especially at the
stages of establishing environmental protection regula-
tions, (e.g., standard-setting) and developing project-
specific abatement requirements (e.g., control order
process) .
3.41 Recommendation:
That, to assure the payment of compensation in cases where
environmental damage results in loss of health or socio-
economic opportunities for local residents, it is recom-
mended that:
(1) clear jurisdictional responsibilities be established
between the federal and provincial Governments
regarding Indian claimants;
(2) funds be made available to those members of the public
requiring financial assistance where legal action is
required to obtain or recover compensation payments
due as a result of environmental damage;
(3) the provincial and federal Governments confer on
quantitative and qualitative methods for determining
the financial equivalent of damage caused to the
physical, social and economic environment as a result
of violations of environmental legislation and
regulation;
Recommendations
R-10
(4) enforceable regulations be established to determine
the time frame in which a violator is obligated to
pay the compensation in full.
The Indian People in the North of Ontario
4.1 Recommendation
4.2
That the Government
Government that the
of Ontario recommend to the federal
Indian Act be amended to give full
status as legal persons to band councils and bands.
Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario grant Crown land to Indian
communities located north of 50, pursuant to procedures
outlined in Recommendation 4.3.
4.3 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario appoint a Northern Land
Commissioner under the Public Inquiries Act to identify and
report to the Government on Crown lands to be granted to
and for the use, benefit and eventual ownership of Indian
communities north of 50 for the settlement of; these
communities, their present and future residents, and the
surrounding environment.
4.4 Recommendation:
That the Northern Land Commissioner, in identifying and
recommending Crown land for grant to northern Indian
communities, consider:
- the adequacy of existing reserves for community needs;
- current and future populations;
present and future community requirements for food
gathering, housing, community facilities, water
supply, energy, fuel, building materials,
transportation and communications:
- existing surface and subsurface rights;
- the needs of existing, contemplated or likely local
businesses or economic development projects;
- the views of the Indian community affected;
- the need for buffer zones to shelter the community
from adjacent resource development impacts.
Recommendations
R-11
4.5 Recommendation:
That on receipt by the Government of Ontario of the report
of the Northern Land Commissioner, the Government of
Ontario unconditionally grant all rights in the lands
identified by the Commissioner to the Government of Canada
in trust for the use, benefit and eventual ownership of the
indicated Indian communities; and that after such grants
have been made, the Government of Ontario be prepared to
negotiate the unconditional granting of additional or
alternative land if and when petitioned by representatives
of northern Indian communities.
4.6 Recommendation:
That all income earned by residents and businesses living
or located on land granted by the Government of Ontario to
Indian communities in the north be exempt from taxation
until such time as the federal and provincial Governments
agree, after consultation with affected Indian communities,
that taxation if imposed would not discourage or lessen
business or other economic development activities.
4.7 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario introduce legislation to
require that those persons undertaking prospecting or
mineral exploration on lands occupied by Indian communities
give reasonable advance notice to the communities affected
of the nature and timing of such activities.
4.8 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources train and employ
Indian Conservation Officers.
4.9 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources establish special
committees to advise the Ministry on research, planning and
resource management matters as these pertain to Indian
communities; and that Indian Conservation Officers be
among the persons named to such committees.
4.10 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario designate community use
areas in the province north of 50 in which hunting, fishing
and trapping by Indian persons would have priority over
other resource users, subject to Recommendation 4.11 to
4.14.
Recommendations
R-12
4.11 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario establish procedures for
designation of community use areas by the Ministry of
Natural Resources; that such procedures be activated by an
application by an Indian community located north of 50 and
that the Ministry designate the Community Use Area as
applied for within 90 days of the application if it has
received evidence of the community's reliance on the area
for hunting, fishing and trapping.
4.12 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources exclude from any
area designated as a community use area any existing rights
of use of occupancy and make provision for easements to
permit public access along water ways and reasonable public
recreational and tourism uses which are not likely to
impinge on fishing, hunting and trapping by members of the
Indian community for whom the designation of a community
use area was made.
4.13 Recommendation:
That the Ministry name an independent scientist acceptable
to affected Indian communities whose decisions on the
appropriateness of any restriction on levels of hunting,
fishing or trapping would be binding on all parties.
4.14 Recommendation:
That in the event of any resource use other than fishing,
hunting and trapping by the affected Indian community and
its residents being proposed for a designated reource use
area, that a precondition of such use be the negotiation of
a resource-use agreement between the developer and the
Northern Development Authority.
4.15 Recommendation:
That elected school boards be established in each Indian
community to be responsible for the administration and
delivery of educational services at the local level.
4.16 Recommendation:
That the Indian community school boards, in conjunction
with the Ministry of Education and native parents,
establish a special curriculum for community schools which
is on a par with provincial standards but which also
accommodates the traditional culture.
Recommendations
R-13
4.17 Recommendation:
That Indian Community school boards and the Ministry of
Education recruit teachers from qualified members of the
community.
4.18 Recommendation:
That Indian community school boards in northern communites
provide Grade 9 and 10 within the community.
4.19 Recommendation:
That the Province of Ontario move immediately to approve
the construction of a first-class high school with techni-
cal and vocational options at a remote location selected by
representatives of Indian community school boards.
The Northern Forest
5.1 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources be required by law
to establish and maintainan up-to-date Forest Resources
Inventory and that this Inventory contain accurate
information on timber volume and regeneration capability of
the province's forests including timber volumes on already
cut and regenerated areas.
5.2 Recommendation:
That the Crown Timber Act be amended to provide that forest
product companies be strictly liable for wasting wood in
forest areas allocated to them for cutting and subject to
fines equal to the value at the mill of wasted timber;
that the AAC be calculated in volumes of timber rather than
in area of forest; that licencees be required to account
for the volume of timber cut and used and the volume left;
that the sturapage fees paid to the Government of Ontario by
licenceesbe reduced for hardwoods, balsam, insect-damaged
and dead timber to levels that will encourage the use of
such timber.
5.3 Recommendation:
That the annual allowable cut be adjusted over the next
decade, beginning in 1986, to reflect the actual timber
supply in Ontario's forest.
Recommendation
R-14
5.4 Recommendation:
That the rehabilitation of the backlog of cut-over forest
land not sufficiently regenerated occur over a 20 year
period; that these efforts be concentrated first on forest
lands that are most likely to sustain regrowth and are
closest to existing mill sites and second on forest lands
around communities in which the principal employer is the
forest products industry.
5.5 Recommendtion:
' That the Government of Ontario freeze mill capacity until
t wood supply under sustained yield management permits
expansion.
I 5.6 Recommendation:
I
That the Reed Agreement should be repudiated by the
Government of Ontario and no part of the tract should be
licenced for cutting until Recommendations 5.9 and 5.27 of
. this report are implemented.
5.7 Recommendation:
That until the claims of White Dog and Grassy Narrows are
settled, the Government of Ontario not grant any cutting
rights in forest lands outside existing company management
units to Great Lakes or any subsequent owner of the Dryden
mill complex.
5.8 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources bring all company
management units under forest management agreements by
December 31, 1968.
5.9 Recommendation:
That sustained yield be imposed by law as an essential
aspect of all forest management in Ontario.
5.10 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources amend the objective
set out in the preamble of forest management agreements so
that it calls for the management of the forest area on a
sustained yield basis -- the volume of wood that can be cut
not to exceed the volume growing in that area — without
reference to continuous supply, meeting market requirements
or to mills.
Recommendations
R-15
5.11 Recommeadatlon:
That Che Ministry of Natural Resources begin, on an
experimental basis, to allocate cutting rights through a
public tender process.
5.12 Recommendation:
That "modified managment areas" as provided for by the
standard forest management agreement be called "forest
protection areas".
5.13 Recommendation:
That northern residents and communities be given the right
to apply to the Minister of Natural Resources for
designation of forest protection areas at any time,
including in advance of the submission of the licensee's
five-year plan or the signing of a forest management
agreement.
5.14 Recommendation:
That the Minister of Natural Resources be empowered to
impose such operating standards as the Minister deems
necessary when authorizing the cutting of trees in forest
protection areas.
5.15 Recommendation:
That if an objection to designation of a forest protection
area is received, the Minister of Natural Resources be
empowered to refer the matter to the Northern Development
Authority; that this Authority be empowered to terminate
or continue the designation of any forest protection area
and to determine the conditions under which designation is
or is not to occur.
5.16 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources prescribe the
circumstances in which clear-cutting should not be used.
5.17 Recommendation:
That the Ministry formulate and issue on a regular basis
"Standards for Cutting the Boreal Forest" which set out
appropriate cutting methods . for representative forest
areas.
Recommendations
R-16
5.18 Recommendation:
That, for forest areas in the Reed Tract and north of
existing Crown and company management units, licensees be
required to demonstrate that proposed uses of clear-cutting
and related clear-cut configurations will not irreparably
harm regeneration capabilities of affected sites, the
ecology of adjacent waterways and the viability of other
significant forest uses.
5.19 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources consider imposing
the requirement that all cutting in environmentally sensi-
tive areas and forest protection areas be contracted out to
specialized cutting companies with demonstrated experience
and expertise in environmentally acceptable tree cutting
and removal.
5.20 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources consider providing
incentives, training and accreditation programs to
northern-based enterprises wishing to acquire the skills
necessary to offer specialized cutting services.
5.21 Recommendation:
That undertakings in which particular cutting methods are
proposed for use in the boreal forest be subject to assess-
ment under the Environmental Assessment Act and that class
assessments of such cutting method not be permitted until
an information base on the environmental effects of cutting
methods in representative boreal forest areas has been
generated from actual environmental assessments.
5.22 Recommendation:
That the Northern Development Authority be empowered to
require that a resource use agreement be a condition to
commencement of construction of access roads, north of 50.
5.23 Recommendation:
That an independent Forest Audit Agency be established with
powers, obligations and independence similar to those of
the Provincial Auditor.
Recommendations
R-17
5.24 Recommendation:
That the Forest Audit Agency inspect, monitor, measure and
report upon the conditions of the province's forest and all
aspects of forest management; and that the Agency be
headed by an Inspector of Forests whose appointment is
subject to the approval of the Legislature and is for a
term of years and level or remuneration that ensures
independence.
5.25 Recommendation:
That the Inspector of Forest should report to the
Legislature annually on the condition of Ontario's
forests, the conduct of forest management, the success or
failure of management techniques including regeneration and
the performance of sustained yield and other obligations
imposed by forest management agreements on forest product
companies and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
5.26 Recommendation:
That the post of "Provincial Forester" be reestablished
within the Ministry of Natural Resources.
5.27 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources take all necessary
steps to ensure that seedlings with genetic qualities of
faster growth and larger timber volume be planted on at
least 80 percent of cut-over areas immediately after
cutting or as soon as weather otherwise permits.
5.28 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources take whatever steps
may be necessary to expand intensive forestry activities by
the Ministry and licensees, such as thinning, spacing and
fertilization, so that by 1990, all areas artificially
seeded or planted are spaced and thinned at intervals of
time acceptable to the Inspector of Forests.
Minln
S.
6.1 Recommendati
on;
That the Government of Ontario recognize the full
importance of the mining industry to its economy and the
future welfare of Ontario by reinstituting the Ministry of
Mines,
Recommendations
R-18
6.2 Recommendation:
That in order to advance the rate of mine exploration and
development in the north of Ontario, the Ministry of Mines
increase its geological and technical staff to undertake
innovative research, mapping, geo-chemical testing, air-
borne geophysics and diamond drilling.
6.3 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Mines continue to support research on
rock bursts and rock mechanics in coordination with similar
research underway in other countries to improve the ability
to predict unsafe rock conditions in mines and enhance safe
ore recovery in mining incompetent rock structures.
6.4 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Mines review the appropriateness of
existing taxes imposed on the raining industry and recommend
reforms which would encourage greater exploration and
development in Ontario.
6.5 Recommendation:
That any new mining reduction mill or expansions of exist-
ing mills must incorporate the latest proven pollution
abatement technologies and techniques into the design of
the milling process.
Tourism
7.1 Recommendation:
That the Ontario Government formally adopt the policy that
tourism be regarded as the priority commercial activity in
Ontario north of 50, particularly north of the 7th and 11th
baselines.
7.2 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario, and specifically the
Ministry of Natural Resources, affirm a policy giving
priority rights to residents north of 50 in the development
of tourism facilities north of the 7th and 11 baselines,
with a provision that Indians have first right of refusal
for such developments for a period of at least five years.
Recommendations
R-19
7.3 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario implement a policy so that,
following operation for three years on land use permit,
tourist operators north of 50 be permitted to apply for a
land patent from MNR based on proof of the operator's
commitment to his/her business and its financial viability
for the future.
7.4 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario adopt a policy of Tourist
Management Areas and Agreements similar to those used for
the forest industry, to allow for a more organized
progressive and co-operative approach to tourism develop-
ment north of 50.
7.5 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources take immediate steps
to recognize the diversity of northern tourism operations
by dividing and treating Ontario north of the 7th and 11th
baselines into at least two separate and distinct Tourist
Management Areas.
7.6 Recommendation:
That experienced professional staff available to the
Ministry of Natural Resources be employed in the develop-
ment and managment of all aspects of the TMA. It is
important to ensure the TMA program is not pushed into an
administrative "backwater" with inadequate professional
resources.
7.7 Recommendation:
That public participation be treated as a vital component
of any TMA decision-making process.
7.8 Recommendation:
That compensation be provided whenever private commercial
tourism operations are adversely affected by other resource
users .
7.9 Recommendation:
That responsibilities and obligations of private tourism
developers as stipulated in land and water leases,
permits, and agreements for the use of resources, be met.
Recommendations
R-20
7.10 Recommendation:
That a record of information be developed and maintained
for each TMA to which the public will have ready access
upon demand.
7.11 Recommendation:
That one or more regionally-organized North of 50 Tourism
' Associations be established as quickly as possible to serve
I northern tourism operators through a united voice directed
at natural resource management policy, as well as to
allocation and funding for various endeavours including
j area and regional planning studies.
' 7.12 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario encourage these tourism
1 associations by providing financial support in the design-
ing, testing, implementing and marketing of tourism
activities.
7.13 Recomendation:
That the Ministries of Natural Resources, Northern Affairs
and Tourism and Recreation co-ordinate input and decision
making regarding tourism policies and programs.
7.14 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation seek to
establish better communiction ties with federal ministries
with the goal of eliminating duplication of tourism assis-
tance programs in Ontario north of 50.
7.15 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario ensures the results of
historic and archaeological research are transmitted to
local residents at the earliest possible date and that
artifacts are returned for display in the local area to the
maximum degree consistent with their continued preserva-
( tion.
7.16 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario begin an immediate and
on-going assessment of the fisheries resource potential for
the major lakes and rivers north of 50 with a view to
allocating those resources on a sustained yield basis.
Recommendations
R-21
7.17 Recommendation:
That a provincial fish hatchery be established in the
western portion of Ontario north of 50, preferably in the
Ear Falls area where a modern community infrastructure is
inplace, to raise sport fish for restocking depleted lakes
and to raise new sport species for introduction into other
northern lakes.
7.18 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario direct an in-depth
biological study north of the 50th parallel on the moose,
white-tailed deer and woodland caribou population with
particular attention to predators and hunting to determine
measures necessary to increase the numbers of white-tailed
deer, moose and woodland caribou.
Planning in the North
8.1 Recommendation:
That in any planning process in the north, Ministries and
government agencies place a priority on two-way forms of
public participation, particularly those which rely on
dialogue between interest groups and individuals; that
district and regional advisory committees be created with
clear terms of reference and defined roles: and that
native participation be encouraged and accommodated.
8.2 Recommendation:
That recommendations of all advisory groups (including the
regional and district advisory committees and the existing
Provincial Parks Council) be made public prior to Ministry
or agency decisions.
8.3 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources continue and
regularize its procedures for the dissemination of
information, through, open house, mailings and public
forums .
8.4 Recommendation:
That public participation procedures for planning processes
be clearly outlined in a public document (e.g. for
guidelines) .
Recommendations
R-22
8.5 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Natural Resources publish the land use
guidelines for the West Patricia and Geraldton Districts
and, when available, for Moosonee District, at the same
time making clear that all such documents represent the
views of the Ministry and have no official status as the
basis for implementation decisions by the Ministry.
8.6 Recommendation:
Given that section l(o) of the Environmental Assessment Act
defines "undertaking" to include "...proposal, plan or
program in respect of an enterprise...," and given the
potentially significant environmental impacts of any
enterprise involving resource development north of 50, that
all proposals, plans and programs, including regional,
district and management plans for use north of 50 (and all
land use planning activities and regional, district,
resource and forest management plans) be subject to the
Environmental Assessment Act .
8.7 Recommendation:
That an active inter-ministry committee, involving the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of the
Environment, establish guidelines for the application of
the Environmental Assessment Act to planning processes in
the north; clearly defined procedures should be imple-
mented for the assessment of plans. Alternatively, the
Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee could undertake
to develop guidelines or special procedures for the
environmental assessment of proposals, plans and programs.
8.8 Recommendation:
That each Ministry and government agency involved in
planning develop a single, specif ic legislative base, either
by new legislation or by amendment to existing legislation
for planning activities.
Recommendations
R-23
Resource-Dependent Communities
9.1 Recommendation:
That the Government of Ontario establish a special fund
administered by a board of persons representative of the
north; that the fund be used for medical, educational,
cultural and recreational purposes in communities north of
50 at the discretion of this board; and that the fund be
comprised for the first three years of 25 per cent of
revenue collected by the Government of Ontario from mining
and forest undertakings north of 50 in the form of under-
ground mining taxes and stumpage fees and subsequently,
such percentages as is fixed each year by the Provincial
Cabinet.
9.2 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of North Affairs act as the coordinator
and "one-stop" source of information and assistance for
provincial and federal economic development programs, to
include working closely with the Northen Development
Authority to ensure maximum benefits to Northern residents.
9.3 Recommendation:
That the Ministry of Northern Affairs develop and maintain
in each of their northern offices a current bank of data on
the many Government and private sector agencies offering
financial expertise and assistance in the establishment and
financing of new enterprises.
Recommendations
APPENDICES
ORDER IN COUNCIL 1900/77
ORDER IN COUNCIL 2316/78
ORDER IN COUNCIL 3679/81
Appendix 1
- 1 -
ORDERS IN COUNCIL
ORDER IN COUNCIL 1900/77
Copy of an Order-in-Council approved by His Honour the
Administrator of the Government of the Province of Ontario, dated
the 13th day of July, A.D. 1977.
The Committee of Council have had under consideration the
report of the Honourable the Minister of the Environment, wherein
he states that,
Recognizing that major enterprises and related technologies
in that part of Ontario that is north or generally north of the
50th parallel of north latitude for the use of natural resources
could have significant beneficial and adverse effects on the
environment, as defined in Schedule A, for the people of Ontario
and in particular those people of Ontario who live north of the
50th parallel.
Recognizing further that any such effects on the environment
are hereby declared to be a matter of public concern.
Recognizing further that the purpose of the Environmental
Assessment Act, 1975 , is the betterment of the people of the whole
oT any part of Ontario by providing for the protection,
conservation and wise management in Ontario of the environment.
The Honourable the Minister of the Environment recommends
that the Honourable Mr. Justice Patrick Hartt, a Justice of the
Supreme Court of Ontario, be appointed a commission pursuant to
the provisions of the Public Inquiries Act, 1971 , effective the
13th day of July, 1977:
1. to inquire into any beneficial and adverse effects on the
environment as defined in Schedule A, for the people of
Ontario of any public or private enterprise, which, in the
opinion of the commission, is a major enterprise north or
generally north of the 50th parallel of north latitude, such
as those related to harvesting, supply and use of timber
resources, mining, milling, smelting, oil and gas extraction,
hydro-electric development, nuclear power development,
water-use, tourism and recreation, transportation,
communications or pipelines;
2. to inquire into methods that should be used in the future to
assess, evaluate and make decisions concerning the effects on
the environment of such major enterprises;
Appendix 1
- 2
3. to investigate the feasibility and desirability of
alternative undertakings north or generally north of the
50th parallel of north latitude, for the benefit of the
environment as defined in Schedule A;
to report and make such recommendations to the Minister
of the Environment from time to time and as
expeditiously as possible with respect to the subject
matter of the inquiry as the commission deems necessary
and desirable to carry out the purpose of the
Environmental Assessment Act, 1975 .
The Honourable the Minister of the Environment further
recommends that
5. all the ministries, boards, agencies and committees of
the Government of Ontario be d
commission to the fullest extent.
the commission be authorized to engage such counsel,
research and other staff and technical advisers as it
deems proper for the purpose of carrying out the
commission at rates of remuneration and reimbursement to
be approved by the Management Board of Cabinet;
the commission be authorized to distribute funds to such
persons as in its discretion, having regard to the
criteria in Schedule B, it deems advisable for the
purpose of ensuring effective participation by the
public in the inquiry.
The Committee of Council concur in the recommendation of the
Honourable the Minister of the Environment and advise that the
same be acted on.
Certified,
Deputy Clerk, Executive Council.
Appendix 1
- 3
Schedule A
"Environment" means,
(i) air, land or water,
(ii) plant and animal life, including man
(iii) the social, economic and cultural conditions that
influence the life of man or a community,
(iv) any building, structure, machine or other device or
thing made by man,
(v) any solid, liquid, gas, odour, heat, sound, vibration or
radiation resulting directly or indirectly from the
activities of man,
or
(vi) any part or combination of the foregoing and the
interrelationships between any two or more of them,
in or of Ontario.
Appendix 1
- 4 -
Schedule B
CRITERIA FOR FUNDING OR PARTICIPATION IN INQUIRY
These criteria are intended to assist the commission in
distributing the available funds in the fairest possible way so as
to ensure effective public participation in the inquiry.
1. Representation of Wide Range of Interest
The parties assisted should be representative of the
various interests which are directly or indirectly
affected by the matters subject to the inquiry. It may
not be feasible or practicable to fund representatives
of all or any groups to the extent they feel necessary
or desirable.
2 . Avoidance of Duplication
Consideration may be given to encouraging the
coalescence of individuals or groups with similar
interests. An incentive could be provided to groups or
individuals who are willing to work together and combine
their presentations for the inquiry.
3. Representation of Various Geographic Areas
Funding may be allocated to representatives of concerned
groups or individuals who do not live or work
immediately adjacent to the proposed development but who
have substantial and direct interest in the subject
matter of the inquiry.
4. Allocation of Limited Funds
Within the context of the above criteria, in determining
which applications for funding should be accepted, the
commission may give consideration to the following
specific guidelines:
- the applicant for funding should be one who
the commission is satisfied, has a direct and
substantial interest in the subject-matter of
the inquiry,
- it should be clear to the commission that
separate and adequate representation of that
Interest will make a necessary and substantial
contribution to the hearing,
Appendix 1
- 5
- those seeking assistance should have an
established record of concern for, and should
have demonstrated their own commitment to, the
interests they seek to represent,
- it should be shown to the satisfaction of the
commission that those seeking assistance do
not have sufficient financial resources to
enable them to represent adequately that
interest in the hearing under consideration,
and will require the assistance to enable them
to do so,
- those seeking assistance should have a clear
proposal as to the use they intend to make of
the funds, and should be willing to make a
commitment to account for the funds.
5. Determination of Specific Requirements
In determining whether to provide assistance and the
amount of assistance to provide, the commission may
consider :
- the length of time required for preparation of
the presentation,
- non-monetary subsidies or other monetary
inputs available to the individual or group
applying for assistance,
- the number of paid employees who will be
participating in the preparation of the
presentation,
- the number of people represented by the
group.
Appendix 1
- 6 -
ORDER IN COUNCIL 2316/78
Copy of an Order-in-Council approved by Her Honour the Lieutenant
Governor, dated the 2nd day of August, A.D. 1978.
The Committee of Council have had under consideration the
report of the Honourable the Minister of the Environment, wherein
he states that.
WHEREAS, pursuant to Order-in-Councll numbered OC-1900/77
dated the 13th day of July A.D. 1977, Mr. Justice Patrick
Hartt of the Supreme Court of Ontario was appointed a
commission pursuant to The Public Inquiries Act, 1971, and
directed to inquire into the beneficial and adverse effects
of enterprises north or generally north of the 50th
parallel of north latitude, to identify and evaluate
alternatives thereto, and to carry out other duties; and
WHEREAS Mr. Justice Hartt in April of this year issued an
interim report in which he made various recommendations,
including recommendations as to the further conduct of the
inquiries and investigations to be carried out by the
commission;
The Honourable the Minister of the Environment therefore
recommends that, pursuant to the provisions of the Public
Inquiries Act, 1971 , a Commission be issued to appoint Mr. J.
Edwin J. Fahlgren of Cochenour, Ontario, in the place and stead of
Mr. Justice Patrick Hartt, for the purpose of carrying out the
inquiries, investigations and other duties set out in
Order-in-Council numbered OC-1900/77, that the Commissioner
receive remuneration and reimbursement at rates to be approved by
Management Board of Cabinet, and that this appointment be
effective on and after the 2nd day of August, 1978.
The Committee of Council concur in the recommendations of the
Honourable the Minister of the Environment and advise that the
same be acted on.
Certified,
Deputy Clerk, Executive Council.
Appendix 1
- 7 -
ORDER-IN-COUNCIL 3679/81
On the recommendatton of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor,
by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council,
orders that,
the Order-in-Council numbered OC-1900/77 dated the 13th
day of July, 1977 as amended by Order-in-Council
numbered OC- 2316/78 dated the 2nd day of August, 1978,
be further amended by adding the following paragraph:
"AND THAT effective from the 1st day of January, 1982,
the Ministry of the Attorney General will be responsible
for providing administrative support to the commission
and will also be responsible for ensuring that the
commission complete its activities within the
constraints established by the Management Board of
Cabinet Policy on the Administration of Royal
Commissions".
Recommended by the Minister of the Environment
Concurred by the Chairman
Approved and Ordered December 23, 1981 by the Lieutenant Governor
Appendix 1
MR. JUSTICE E.P. HARTT
RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSALS FOR ACTION
INTERIM REPORT OF THE
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
APRIL 4, 1978
Onakawana Development Limited and the Ministry of the
Environment should take immediate steps to discuss fully and
openly the planned environmental assessment of the proposed
lignite mine south of Moosonee vd.th local and affected groups
and that the company undertake to meet their concerns in its
assessment.
2. A complete review and assessment of the West Patricia
Planning process, in relation to other relevant programs of
the Ontario government, and with special emphasis on the
"Reed tract", should be carried out by the Commission, with
the proposals of the Ministry of Natural Resources being
considered as the focal point of the review.
3. A task force of northern residents should be appointed to
investigate and recommend ways for the people of the north to
become effectively involved in the making of decisions by
government ministries and agencies that affect their lives
and communities.
A committee should be formed, composed of ministerial-level
representatives of the federal and Ontario governments and
representatives of the Indian people. The committee would
attempt to resolve, through negotiation, issues raised by its
members, and in particular would address questions of
devolution of authority to govern local affairs and access to
resources for the Indian people. A small secretariat,
acceptable to all parties, should be established to support
the committee.
5. As its first priority, the committee should address the
plight of the Indian communities of Whitedog and Grassy
Narrows. Methods to ensure access to resources and viable
community economics, along with related supportive programs
should be considered jointly by the committee and the
communities. To facilitate this, a mutually acceptable fact
finder should be appointed to review and report on available
information and options within 90 days.
Appendix 2
- 2 -
6. The government of Ontario should not implement any new policy
on vd.lcl rice which would weaken the Indians' position in this
industry in the north. During the next five years, the
Indians should be given the opportunity to develop a viable
wild rice industry on their own. To foster this, no new
licences to harvest rice should be granted to non-Indians
during this period. The government should provide
assistance, for example, by examining the influence of water
control structures on the productivity of the harvests, by
appropriate research into improved growing and harvesting
methods, and by necessary training programs.
V
Appendix 2
- 1
PUBLIC FUNDING PROGRAM
The Commission, throughout its lifespan, has provided
financial assistance to groups and individuals to assist them in
taking an active role in the inquiry. This program of Public
Funding was initiated through the Commission's Order in Council
1900/77 which specifically authorized the Commissioner "...to
distribute funds to such persons as in its discretion, having
regard to the criteria in Schedule B (of the Order in Council) it
deems advisable for the purpose of ensuring effective
participation by the public in the inquiry."
Schedule B was intended to assist the commission in
distributing the available funds in the fairest possible way so as
to ensure effective public participation in the inquiry. It
specified the following points:
"1 . Representation of Wide Range of Interests
The parties assisted should be representatives of the
various interests which are directly or indirectly
affected by the matters subject to the inquiry. It may
not be feasible or practicable to fund representatives
of all or any groups to the extent they feel necessary
or desirable.
2 . Avoidance of Duplication
Consideration may be given to encouraging the
coalescence of individuals or groups with similar
interests. An incentive could be provided to groups or
individuals who are willing to work together and combine
their presentations for the inquiry.
3 . Representation of Various Geographic Areas
Funding may be allocated to representatives of concerned
groups or individuals who do not live or work
immediately adjacent to the proposed development but who
have a substantial and direct interest in the subject
matter of the inquiry.
4 . Allocation of Limited Funds
Within the context of the above criteria, in determining
which applications for funding should be accepted , the
commission may give consideration to the following
specific guidelines:
Appendix 3
- 2 -
- the applicant for funding should be one who the
eommission is satisfied, has a direct and substantial
interest in the subject matter of the inquiry,
- it should be clear to the commission that separate and
adequate representation of that interest will make a
necessary and substantial contribution to the
hearing ,
- those seeking assistance should have an established
record of concern for, and should have demonstrated
their own commitment to, the interests they seek to
represent .
- it should be shown to the satisfaction of the
commission that those seeking assistance do not have
sufficient financial resources to enable them to
represent adequately that interest in the hearing
under consideration, and will require the assistance
to enable them to do so,
- those seeking assistance should have a clear proposal
as to the use they intend to make of the funds, and
should be willing to make a commitment to account for
the funds."
Early Funding - Mr» Justice Hartt
During the period July, 1977 - August, 1978 under
Mr. Justice Patrick Hartt, $403,092 was awarded to and spent by
groups and individuals to prepare for and participate in the
Commission's inquiry. No formal application process was set into
place to make these awards. Decisions were made internally by the
Commission as each request for financial assistance was received.
The Table below details funding awarded during this early
stage of the Commission's inquiry.
TABLE X-1
Funding Awards July 1977 - August 1978
RECIPIENT
Grand Council Treaty #9
National Survival Institute
Grand Council Treaty #3
Mental Health Timmins
Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association
Tri Municipal Committee
Town of Sioux Lookout
James Bay Education Centre
Amount
Spent
$
170,
,636
4,
,171
170,
,928
85
6,
,683
47,
,323
1.
,266
2
,000
Appendix 3
- 3
Commissioner Fahlgren's Approach
Under Commissioner Fahlgren a more formal approach to the
awarding of financial assistance was instituted.
The Commission established a Funding Advisory Committee to
consider and make recommendations to the Commissioner on
applications for funding during the 1978/1979/1980 period. The
Committee was set up to ensure a fair and unbiased distribution of
the funds available. The Committee members were selected from
nominations made by active participants in the Commission's work
and was composed of five northerners and one Commission staff
member.
For the Funding Period September to November, 1982
(Phase IV), the Commission did not utilize the Funding Advisory
Committee. During this period, an internal committee of staff
members was set up to make recommendations to the Commissioner on
each application.
Brochures explaining the Commission's formal Funding Program
and application forms were prepared and widely distributed for
each phase of funding. Timing, budgets and application limits for
each phase were as follows:
Phase I
November 15, 1978 to March 31, 1978
Budget: $125,000
Application limit: $10,000
Phase II
September 10, 1979 to February 28, 1980
Budget: $230,000
Application limit: $10,000
Phase III
December I, 1979 to February 29, 1980
Budget: $40,000
Application limit: $5,000
Phase IV
September 1, 1982 to November 10, 1982
Budget: $350,000
Application limit: $10,000
Appendix 3
- 4 -
Applicants who were successful in having their request for
financial assistance approved were required to sign a Letter of
Agreement stating that the funds would only be used for the
intended purpose in accordance with the approved budget, that
proper accounting procedures would be met and that deadlines for
completion of the project would be observed.
In all cases, an amount ranging from 10 to 25 per cent of the
approved award was held back pending completion of the project and
receipt by the Commission of a satisfactory financial accounting
of the funds.
Program Assessment
Table II lists the recipients of financial assistance during
the formalized funding program under Commissioner Fahlgren. The
table indicated the recipients of the funding, the amount spent
and whether the project was satisfactorily completed. The
Commission can only confirm that the project was undertaken and
completed and that the money spent and accounted for. No effort
has been made on an individual basis to indicate whether the
Commission believes that good value was received for the money.
In some instances this would be impossible to evaluate as in the
case of a project whose sole purpose was for community partici-
pation, issue awareness or local decision making. As for projects
that required funding for research or for the preparation of
submissions, the Commission is prepared only to indicate if the
report or submission was received and the money satisfactorily
accounted for. No specific evaluation on an individual basis will
be made.
TABLE X-II
Phase I November 15, 1978 - March 31, 1979
RECIPIENT Amount Spent
James Burr and William Napier (Waterloo) $ 1,265
Conservation Council of Ontario (Toronto) 3,235
James Bay Cree Society (Moose Factory) 4,575
William Moses (Timmins) 5,867
Moose Band Council (Moose Factory) 1,834
Northern Development Research Group (Toronto) 4,885
Appendix 2
5 -
Northwestern Ontario Internationl Women's
Decade Coordinating Council (Thunder Bay) $ 8,752*
Osgoode Hall Law School, Public Interest
Advocacy Centre (Toronto) 7,000
Ontario Metis and Non-Status
Indian Association (Zone 3) 4 455
Pollution Probe Foundation (Toronto) 4,196
Town of Sioux Lookout (Sioux Lookout) 4,257
Thunder Bay and District Labour Council (Thunder Bay) 5,670
Bert Trapper (Moosonee) 1 492
Grand Council Treaty </3 (Kenora) 6,511
Winisk Band Council Advisory Board (Winisk) 4,637
White Dog Band (White Dog) 150*
* Project not completed or financial accounting not received.
Phase II September 10, 1979 - February 28, 1980
RECIPIENT Amount Spent
Timiskamlng Environmental Action Committee (Kenabeek) $ 8,866
Northern Ontario Women's Conference Committee (Sudbury) 4,000
Noract (Hearst) 8 940
Michael Zudel (Timmins) 2 000
Gary Clark (Timmins) 2 160*
Energy Probe (Toronto) 7*399
Stanley Hunnisett (Big Trout Lake) 9,524
Northern Ontario Research & Development Institute (Hearst) 9,679
Conservation Council of Ontario (Toronto) 7,500
Canada Environmental Law Research Foundation (Toronto) 9,361
Pollution Probe (Toronto) 4 700
Northern Development Research Group (Toronto) 7,847
Canadian Paperworkers Union (Toronto) 4,528
Fort Albany Band (Fort Albany) 7,543*
Big Island Reserve #93 (Morson) 7,712*
Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association (Thunder Bay) 1,653
Dr. Roger Suffling (Waterloo) 9,047
Ontario Metis & Non-Status Indian Association (Zone 2)
(Thunder Bay) 99O
Webequie Settlement Committee (Webequie) 6,795
Lake Nipigon Metis Association (Thunder Bay) 5,203
Native Education Advisory Council (Thunder Bay) 10,143
* Project not completed or financial accounting not received.
Appendix 3
- 8 -
Phase III December 1, 1979 - February 28, 1980
RECIPIENT
Amount Spent
Transport 2000 Canada (Ottawa)
Jean Trudel (Hearst)
Wa Wa Ta Native Communications Society (Sioux Lookout)
Bruce D. Ralph (Ignace)
Mark & Wendy MacMillan (Ignace)
Pollution Probe (Toronto)
Terry Graves (Charlton)
Long Dog Lake Community (Long Dog Lake)
Association des Francophones du Nord-Ouest
de I'Ontario (Thunder Bay)
Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre (Thunder Bay)
Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (Red Lake)
Fort Severn Band (Fort Severn)
Naganawit Corporation (Kenora)
$ 3,
,106
4
,395
■) 3,
,645*
4,
,142
2,
,924
5
,325
7,
,580
1
,776*
4,
,237
4,
,935
1,
,748
7,
,299
350*
* Project not completed or financial accounting not received.
Phase IV September 1, 1982 - November 10, 1982
RECIPIENT
Amount Spent
Martin Falls Band (Ogoki Post) $ 5,120
Rocky Bay Indian Band (MacDiarraid) 9,353
Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation (Toronto) 9,922
Conservation Council of Ontario (Toronto) 9,230
David Sewell (Timmins) 3,539
James Bay Tribal Council (Moose Factory) 11,641
Wildlands League (Toronto) 9,595
New Post Band #69 (Cochrane) 14,620
Moose Factory Band (Moose Factory) 5,649*
Fikret Berkes (St. Catharines) 800
Savant Lake Native Community (Savant Lake) 5,349
Brian McMillan/David Peerla (Thunder Bay) 5,716
Moosonee Metis and Non-Status Indian Association (Moosonee)8,935*
Association Canadienne Francaise d'Ontario,
Regionale de Timmins (Timmins) 10,070
Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists,
Ontario Chapter (Toronto) 9,893
* Project not completed or financial accounting not received.
Appendix 3
- 7 -
Parks for Tomorrow (Kakabeka Falls)
Former Chiefs Committee (Winisk)
Chief Thomas Fiddler/James Stevens
(Sandy Lake & Thunder Bay)
Sidney Fels (Thunder Bay)
Armstrong Metis Association (Armstrong)
Economic Development Sub-Committee (Thunder Bay)
David Martin (Thunder Bay)
Attawapiskat Band Council (Attawapiskat )
Ontario Metis Association (Zone 1) (Sioux Lookout)
Deer Lake Band (Deer Lake)
Armstrong Wilderness Outfitters Association (Armstrong)
Frontier College (Toronto)
Bearskin Lake Band (Bearskin Lake)
Lake Nipigon Metis Association (Thunder Bay)
Muskrat Dam Band (Muskrat Dam)
Cochrane Tourist Outfitters Association (Cochrane)
Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies
(Ottawa)
Development Education Centre (Toronto)
Sioux Lookout Trappers Council (Sioux Lookout)
Lac Seul Band (Lac Seul)
Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association (North Bay) 10
Amikwlish (Geraldton)
R.G. Brisson (Cochrane)
North Caribou Lake Band (Weagamow Lake)
Concerned Women's Group (Iroquois Falls)
Town of Iroquois Falls (Iroquis Falls)
Town of Sioux Lookout (Sioux Lookout)
Sioux Lookout Chamber of Commerce (Sioux Lookout)
Red Lake Chamber of Commerce (Red Lake)
Sachigo Lake Band (Sachigo Lake)
Martin Falls Band (Ogoki)
Naganawet (Kenora)
Noract (Hearst)
Reeve S. Leschuk (Ear Falls)
* Project not completed or financial accounting not received.
Under this program, 99 different awards of financial assis-
tance were made totalling $572,773, of which 15 recipents failed
to either satisfactorily complete their project or submit a proper
financial accounting.
9
,973
4
,086
8
,834
2
,525
14
,148
8
,325
2
,487
15
,110
1
,747*
9
,064
1
,450
3
,350
4
,870*
2
,400
8
,800
10
,024
2
,500
9
,957
6
,297
9
,834
10
,000
3
,396*
1
,665*
3
,478*
6
806
5
454
1
250
300
5
053
7
000
3
079
^
650
5
000
^
586
Appendix 3
Funding for Major Participants
The Commission realized that its formal programs for funding,
with their relatively small application budget limits and short
time frames, were not appropriate for those it considered to be
potentially major participants in the inquiry. Accordingly, in
addition to the formal programs, funding was made available to
organizations with significant interests in the Commission's
mandate.
The following major groups or organizaitons received funding
from the Commission and spent the amounts indicated.
Kayahna Area Tribal Council $456,000
Fort Severn Band 58,364
Grand Council Treaty #9 297,397
Ontario Metis Association 65,642
Pehtabun Chiefs Tribal Council 93,148
Windigo Tribal Council 35,465
Central Tribal Council 20,535
Fort Hope Band 241,261
Travel to Hearings
The area covered by the Commission's mandate was extensive,
with great distances between communities, and with travel
difficult and costly.
For the Commission to hold hearings that were accessible to
the public north of 50, there were basically two options: take
the hearings to the people or bring the people to the hearings.
The time and expense required to take the hearings to the
people of most communities, particularly the remote locations,
could not in all conscience be contemplated. However, for the
public to willingly participate in a more limited number of
hearing locations would have required a commitment from the
Commission to cover travel costs for participants to present oral
versions of their written submissions. In some cases participants
were required to appear if their submissions were funded by the
Commission. Not all participants requested travel assistance but
those who did were required to show a need that if such assistance
was not available they would otherwise be unable to participate
further. Those receiving travel assistance were required to
submit documented claims and reimbursement was subject to the same
guidelines and limits for travel expenses as those set down for
employees of the Commission.
Appendix 3
Cross-Examination at Formal Hearings
Funding was made available to parties granted standing at
formal hearings to engage counsel, to research and to undertake
cross-examination.
Those who were granted standing and who required funding for
legal fees and/or travel are listed below.
RECIPIENT Amount Spent
Kayahna Area Tribal Council $ 14,347
Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce 5,979
Deer Lake Band 5,226
Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters 6,17U
Summer Beaver Community 16,394
Sioux Lookout Trappers Council 945*
* Travel only
Appendix 2
- 1
December 17, 1982
The Honourable William G. Davis, Q.C.
Premier of Ontario and
President of the Council
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A lAl
Dear Mr. Premier;
Pursuant to Orders-in-Council 1900/77 and 2316/78, this
letter sets forth my interim recommendation concerning the
Ministry of Natural Resources' planning activities in Ontario
north of 50°.
As you know, this Commission's mandate directs rae to
make recommendations concerning both the manner in which major
development takes place in Ontario north of 50° and the means
whereby decisions pertaining to such development are reached. In
order to further clarify, define and limit the subject matter of
my inquiry, I chose a course of action suggested by briefs
submitted to Mr. Justice Patrick Hartt, the results of my own
community visits and research program, and other public input.
Accordingly, on July 5, 1982 I announced my intention to focus ray
inquiry primarily on those aspects of development entailing the
allocation, use and management of natural resources and to accord
particular emphasis to decision-making related to these aspects.
This Commission's interests in decision-making for the
north rest centrally on the Ministry of Natural Resources' land
use and resource management planning activities and on the
application of the Environmental Assessment Act to these
activities. These planning and assessment processes converge in
an especially crucial and illuminating manner in West Patricia.
The West Patricia area exemplifies pressing issues
confronting development of the Boreal Forest and Shield
environments of the north. Many of these issues came to a head in
the raid-1970's when Reed Paper Limited began to examine the
prospects for establishing an integrated forest products complex
in the Red Lake/Ear Falls area using timber from a tract of 19,000
square miles to the north. Public reaction to the harvesting
proposal contributed to the creation of this Commission and gave
impetus to the Ministry of Natural Resources' accelerated land use
planning for West Patricia.
...2/
Appendix 4
Letter to the Honourable W.G. Davis - Dec. 17/82 - 2
The Ministry of Natural Resources ' planning and
program-delivery activities have major potential to shape the
future course of northern development by virtue of the Ministry's
central role as custodian, manager and developer of Crown lands.
Therefore, my final recommendations will be directed towards
ensuring first, that northern development proceeds in a beneficial
and orderly fashion, working in concert with and not at the
expense of the environment, and second, that development decisions
proceed through a rational and equitable process that embodies
thorough analysis, provides for effective public involvement and
evaluation of public input, and opens to the public an avenue of
access to an accounting of how and why decisions are reached.
I find that important issues concerning both the
substance of the land use plans and the decision-making process
leading to their formulation have not been as fully and
productively addressed as they should have been. I have reviewed
the Ministry of Natural Resources' land use planning principles,
the planning and public participation processes followed, and the
nature of the evolving plans themselves, using as touchstones the
Ministry's Guidelines for Land Use Planning and the Ministry of
the Environment's General Guidelines for the Preparation of
Environmental Assessments . My review led to identification of
unresolved questions and concerns central to my mandate. I
transmitted these to the Minister of Natural Resources in a letter
dated November 24, 1982 and read them into public record at my
hearing at Ear Falls on December 2, 1982. Moreover, the public
has raised other important issues of substance and process in its
written submissions and presentations at my hearings.
Furthermore, these submissions and presentations,
together with my own review, have led me to identify several
concerns having to do with the application of the Environmental
Assessment Act to both the Ministry of Natural Resources ' planning
system and the resolution of major trade-off issues involving the
allocation, use and management of resources in Ontario North of
50°. I am conveying these concerns today by letter to the
Minister of the Environment.
On May 16, 1978 you stated in the Legislature that one
of this Commission's future activities would be to review and
assess the West Patricia planning process, using the Ministry of
Natural Resources' proposals as the focal point. You further
said: "I support the concept that northern residents should be
more directly involved in the decision-making process of
government". The Minister of Natural Resources, in his written
submission to me dated December 2, 1982, confirmed that he is
awaiting direction from the Royal Commission on the Northern
Environment but will not accept "public input" on the West
Patricia land use plan after December 31, 1982.
...3/
Appendix 4
- 3
Letter to The Honourable W.G. Davis - Dec. 17/82 - 3
My advice to the Minister of Natural Resources will take
the form of findings and recommendations arising from my inquiry.
My inquiry into the Ministry's planning and decision-making in the
north, which obviously includes the adequacy of "public input" and
related procedures, cannot possibly lead to findings and
recommendations until 1 have had the opportunity to review further
submissions made to me. 1 have established March 31, 1983 as my
current deadline for submissions and expect to be in a position to
advise the Minister no later than June 30, 1983.
In order to secure information essential to the
effective discharge of my mandate, 1 have required:
1) that the Minister of Natural Resources or his
senior staff respond fully in writing before
December 31, 1982 to the questions and concerns
read into the public record at my hearings on
December 2, 1982;
2) that the Minister of Natural Resources or his
senior staff appear before me, either at hearings
now scheduled or at subsequent hearings to be
scheduled for our mutual convenience, to present
an oral summary of such written responses, and to
respond at such time to questions which the
Commission may then have;
3) that the Minister of Natural Resources or his
senior staff continue to provide information in
writing for purposes of clarification as I may
request during and following ray hearings and in
general continue to cooperate with my staff in
this regard; and
4) that the Minister of the Environment or his senior
staff respond in writing at the earliest possible
time to the concerns transmitted to the Minister
in my letter of December 17, 1982 and appear
before me at hearings on mutually convenient
dates.
Given my terms of reference, your recognition of land
use planning as a focal point of my inquiry, the Minister of
Natural Resources' own tight schedule for completion of the
district land use plans across the north, and the above four
requirements, I hereby recommend:
. . .4/
Appendix 4
Letter to the Honourable W.G. Davis - Dec. 17/82 - 4
that all land use planning processes affecting
Ontario north of 50° latitude be deferred and not
terminated or closed in any way, and that the
product of the Ministry of Natural Resources'
planning activities — land use plans — not be
finalized until my findings and recommendations
are released in the form of a public report and
have been considered by your Government.
I regard your response to this recommendation as a
matter of the utmost urgency for the satisfactory completion of my
inquiry.
Yours very truly,
J.E.J. Fahlgren
Commissioner
Appendix 4
- 1 -
December 17, 1982
Honourable Alan W. Pope
Minister of Natural Resources
Room 6323, Whitney Block
99 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1W3
Dear Mr. Pope:
Today 1 delivered my interim recommendation concerning the
Ministry of Natural Resources' planning activities in Ontario
north of 50° to the Honourable William G. Davis, Premier of
Ontario. This recommendation reads as follows:
"that all land use planning processes affecting
Ontario north of 50° latitude be deferred and not
terminated or closed in any way, and that the
product of the Ministry of Natural Resources'
planning activities — land use plans — not be
finalized until my findings and recommendations are
released in the form of a public report and have
been considered by your Government."
In my letter to the Premier, a copy of which is enclosed, 1 set
forth certain required actions that would support this
recommendation and thus enable me to discharge my mandate
effectively. The particular requirements that call for your
response read as follows:
"1) that the Minister of Natural Resources or his
senior staff respond fully in writing before
December 31, 1982 to the questions and concerns
read into the public record at my hearings on
December 2, 1982;"
"2) that the Minister of Natural Resources or his
senior staff appear before me, either at
hearings now scheduled or at subsequent hearings
to be scheduled for our mutual convenience, to
present an oral summary of such written
responses, and to respond at such time to
questions which the Commission may then have;"
"3) that the Minister of Natural Resources or his
senior staff continue to provide information in
writing for purposes of clarification as I may
request during and following my hearings and in
general continue to co-operate with my research
staff in this regard...."
Appendix 5
- 2 -
December 17, 1982 Page 2
I regard your response to these requirements as a matter of the
utmost urgency, given my need to conclude my inquiry as quickly as
possible and your own desire to expedite completion, internal
approval and release of the district land use plans. My Director
of Research and my Counsel will be pleased to explain and
elaborate on these concerns to members of your staff and to
discuss with them the nature, timing and format of your written
submissions and presentations at my public hearings.
Yours very truly,
J. E. J. Fahlgren
Commissioner
End.
Appendix 5
- 1 -
December 17, 1982
Honourable Keith C. Norton
Minister of the Environment
135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1P5
Dear Mr. Norton:
Today I delivered my interim recommendation concerning the
Ministry of Natural Resources' planning activities in Ontario
north of 50° to the Honourable William G. Davis, Premier of
Ontario. This recommendation reads as follows:
"that all land use planning processes affecting
Ontario north of 50° latitude be deferred and not
terminated or closed in any way, and that the
product of the Ministry of Natural Resources'
planning activities — land use plans — not be finalized
until my findings and recommendations are released in the
form of a public report and have been considered by your
Government."
In my letter to the Premier, a copy of which is enclosed, I set
forth certain required actions that would support this
recommendation and thus enable me to discharge my mandate
effectively. The purpose of this letter to you is to clarify the
particular requirement that calls for your response. This reads
as follows:
"1) that the Minister of the Environment or his
senior staff respond fully in writing at the
earliest possible time to the concerns
transmitted to the Minister in my letter of
December 17, 1982 and appear before me at
hearings on mutually convenient dates."
As you know, my mandate requires me to find ways of ensuring that
major development in Ontario North of 50° takes place in an
orderly and beneficial manner and to seek improvements in the
procedures followed to reach decisions on such development. This
Commission's interests in decision-making for the north focus on
the environmental assessment process stemming from the
Environmental Assessment Act and the land use and resource
planning activities of the Ministry of Natural Resources. These
processes converge in that Ministry's district land use planning
across the north and in a particularly crucial and illuminating
manner in West Patricia, an area which exemplifies many of the
main issues confronting northern development.
Appendix 6
- 2
December 17, 1982 Page 2
The Ministry of Natural Resources' planning and program-delivery
activities have major potential to shape the future course of
northern development by virtue of the Ministry's role as
custodian, manager and developer of Crown lands. Land use
planning by the Ministry generates a framework of objectives,
operational strategies and targets that give direction to the
subsequent formulation and eventual implementation of resource
management plans. For these reasons, my program accords a central
place to an evaluation of the principles, research methodology,
public consultation approach, and products of the Ministry's land
use planning.
The Environmental Assessment Act appears to establish a consistent
and logical process embodying good planning principles that, when
applied, could play a crucially important role in balancing the
legitimate interests of development and environmental protection.
My findings to date suggest that these principles could be
fruitfully applied in the case of the Ministry of Natural
Resources' district planning. Moreover, there are good reasons to
regard the Ministry's planning activities as provincial government
undertakings subject to the Act.
I expect that your Ministry's written submissions to me and oral
presentations at my hearings will clarify your views on the status
and treatment of these activities under the Environmental
Assessment Act . Further, I expect that your submissions and
presentations will respond to the following additional areas of
concern, some arising from earlier submissions and my internal
review of land use planning and others stemming from my research
on the Detour Lake road and Onakawana undertakings.
Applicability of class and individual environmental
assessment approaches to MNR's land use and resource
management planning subsystems; appropriate points of
application in the planning system.
Status and intended treatment of the West Patricia plan and
other district land use plans under the Environmental
Assessment Act .
- MOE's view of the land use plans: implementable or
conce p t ual /invent or ial?
- consultation between MNR and MOE at ministerial and staff
levels regarding status, format and content of MNR's
environmental assessment for West Patricia;
- schedule of submission of West Patricia environmental
assessment to MOE;
- status of an MNR-approved land use plan pending approval
under the Environmental Assessment Act.
Appendix 6
December 17, 1982 Page 3
Compatibility of land use planning and environmental assessment
processes with special reference to West Patricia and with respect
to:
- identification and comparative evaluation of alternatives
to and alternative methods of carrying out the undertaking;
- determination of social, economic and natural environmental
impacts, and associated costs and benefits, of alternatives
including the preferred alternative;
- management and mitigation measures and their feasibility.
MOE's views on MNR's process for weighting, analyzing and evalu-
ating public and research input and for incorporating it in the
final land use plans.
MOE's views on the applicability of the Environmental Assessment
Act towards resolution of conflicting views on resource allocation
and management, including issues of cross-impact between such
sectors as parks and timber harvesting.
Status and intended treatment of MNR's forest management planning
under the Act.
- applicability of class and individual environmental assess-
ment approaches;
- MOE comments on draft class environmental assessment;
- status of the exemption; prospects for extension.
Status and intended treatment of access road planning and other
resource management planning under the Act.
Criteria for exemptions;
Extension of the Act to private undertakings;
Internal evaluation of the Act and the environmental
assessment process;
Status and functions of the Environmental Assessment Advisory
Committee.
Appendix 6
- 4 -
December 17, 1982 Page 4
My findings to date indicate that the Environmental Assessment Act
has the potential to provide a rational, accessible process of
environmental decision-making and a clear pattern of accountabili-
ty to the public for the decisions reached. My final recommen-
dations will be directed in part towards ensuring that this
potential is attained in the case of land use and resource
management planning and other major undertakings across Ontario
North of 50°.
1 now require your Ministry's position on the concerns outlined
here and others that will undoubtedly be raised as ray hearings and
research progress. I regard this as a matter of the utmost
urgency, given my need to conclude my own inquiry as quickly as
possible and the Minister of Natural Resources' desire to expedite
completion, internal approval and release of the district land use
plans.
My Director of Research and my Counsel will be pleased to explain
and elaborate on these concerns to meraebers of your staff and to
discuss with them the nature, timing, and format of your written
responses and presentations at my public hearings.
Yours very truly,
J. E. J. Fahlgren
Commissioner
End.
Appendix 6
1 -
March 24, 1983
Honourable Keith Norton, Minister
Ministry of the Environment
135 St. Clair Avenue West, 14th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1P5
Dear Mr. Norton:
Thank you for your letter of February 1, 1983 in which you clari-
fied your position on the Ministry of Natural Resources' land use
planning and commented briefly on major concerns raised earlier by
me.
In his letter to me of January 18, 1983, the Minister of Natural
Resources established a legalistic and technical rationale for a
position that the Environmental Assessment Act should not apply to
the land use plans. This rationale, and now your apparent accept-
ance of it, gives rise to fundamental questions about the true
nature, intent, status, substance, and implications of his
Ministry's planning, about the appropriate locus of decision-
making related to resource allocation, management and protection,
about the effective injection of the Act's principles into the
Ministry's decision-making and planning processes, and about the
continuing credibility of the Act itself. These matters are the
direct and central consequence to me, in the discharge of my
mandate, and I would presume to you, as Minister responsible for
the Act and its promotion and implementation.
I want to comment on two salient aspects of the Minister of
Natural Resources' remarks on planning and decision-making
prerogatives of individual Cabinet ministers and Cabinet, while
downplaying the status of land use planning and its significance
as a framework for consistent decision-making. Second, they omit
any reference, let alone any commitment, to the Environmental
Assessment Act as an appropriate statutory basis for enlightened
decision-making with respect to the allocation, use, management
and protection of lands and waters.
The Minister advances three arguments in support of a case that
land use planning is a process something apart from decision-
making: first, that the plans are merely guidelines lacking
official policy substance; second, that they are intended
primarily for internal, program coordinating purposes; and third,
that they do not embody legal commitments to allocate or manage
natural resources in any explicit manner. I wish to comment on
each of these arguments in turn.
...2/
Appendix 7
- 2 -
March 24, 1983 Page 2
The Minister backs up his assertion that the plans are merely
guidelines on the grounds that they are "capability inventories"
and that land use planning is a process distinct from decision-
making. To me, this seems unsupportable. Inventory and
capability are technical terras having explicit meanings that have
been widely accepted by professionals in resource planning. An
inventory can be defined simply as a "stocktaking of natural
resources", capability as the "natural ability of an area of
provide continuous opportunity for benefits under an assumed level
of management". The Phase I or Background Information phase
clearly represents the capability inventory stage in the Ministry
of Natural Resources ' land use planning process and the foundation
against which specific resource "policies and targets will be
tested, optional plans developed, and a final plan produced". The
treatment accorded to policies, objectives, targets and strategies
in the Ministry's Phase II documents demonstrates that the final
plans will reach far beyond what is encompassed by the terms
inventory and capability .
To dismiss the land use plans as "guidelines" or statements of
"hypothetical intent" would be highly inconsistent with the
Ministry of Natural Resources' stated positions on planning, the
scope of the plan documents, and the decade of effort and millions
of dollars spent on land use planning. The Ministry defines a
land use plan as a "document which indicates how the Ministry
plans to use Crown land ... and intends to influence the use of
private land in achieving its objectives". Definitions in
strategic land use plans already approved affirm that planning
"culminates in a commitment" and that a plan "displays a
decision". More to the point is the substance of the plans
themselves. Judging from the Phase II documents, the approved
land use plans will constitute an explicit statement of the
Ministry's sectoral policies, articulated in the form of alloca-
tion and protection objectives and quantified targets for
districts and component zones together with the general strategies
for attaining them.
The Minister's second argument has to do with program coordi-
national functions largely internal to the Ministry. The Ministry
of Natural Resources has stated that the purpose of a land use
plan is "to coordinate the various Ministry programs, concerning
the use of land, so that conflicts and inefficiencies are avoided
and all objectives are met". The Minister's letter reinforces
this by emphasizing that the plans are for purposes of "ensuring
general conformity of the Ministry's disposition activities with
other Ministries and other Ministry of Natural Resources program
activities and responsibilities". You lend your own support when
you note that the Environmental Assessment Act "cannot replace the
normal responsibilities of government ministries to develop
policies and plan and manage programs".
...3/
Appendix 7
March 24, 1983 Page 3
While the Ministry of Natural Resources' application of land use
planning as a tool for program coordination is eminently
appropriate, the impacts of the plan implementation activities
will obviously extend far beyond mere good internal housekeeping.
In the case of Ontario North of 50°, the Ministry's planning and
program-delivery activities have major potential to shape the
future course of development by virtue of the Ministry's crucial
roles as custodian, manager and developer of Crown lands. My
Commission's concerns rest primarily on the adequacy of the plans
and on their real-world consequences.
In developing his third argument, that the land use plans do not
embody direct legal commitments to allocate or manage resoruces in
any explicit manner, the Minister draws my attention to a major
distinction between the land use planning process applied by
public servants and the "decision or resource allocation process"
culminating in decisions at the Cabinet level. Is this a legalis-
tic attempt to distance program implementation as far as possible
from plan formulation? If so, it raises a spectre of arbitrary
decision-making taking place outside the gambit of any formal
planning or assessment process. That government bears the final
authority, responsibility and accountability for decision-making
cannot be disputed. I agree that approved plans must not be
regarded as etched in stone. Undoubtedly, circumstances may
sometimes necessitate that plans be overridden by a decision at
the Cabinet level or altered through the ongoing review and
revision mechanisms built into the land use planning process.
Nevertheless, I am required, in the discharge of my mandate, to
gain the fullest possible understanding of decision-making whether
it takes place as the result of a formal planning or assessment
process or independently.
Accordingly, I am asking the Minister to further define the
"decision or resource allocation process" that he highlights, to
let me know his intentions for its applications, and to indicate
whether he would be giving the final district land use plans his
official approval.
Moveover, while a land use plan may not legally commit natural
resources to "project-specific end-uses", the Minister's approval
of a plan surely signifies that it can be accepted as an authen-
tic, consistent and potent statement of his Ministry's priorities
and intents for allocating, using and protecting natural resources
and for resolving sectoral tradoff issues arising from conflicting
demands on a finite resource base. Approval surely signifies that
the integrity of the plan is to be safeguarded — to the extent
that external circumstances and political realities permit — from
frequent non-confirming changes to its fundamental objectives,
thrust and balance. Finally, approval must be construed to be a
...4/
Appendix 7
March 24, 1983 Page 4
directive for major policy decisions on projects and resource
allocations, for later resource management planning, and for
operational activities by administrators as well as a very strong
signal of government's intentions to interest groups and potential
private investors. To assert otherwise would assign to the plans
an equivocal status that would enable them to be either adhered to
or ignored as a basis for reaching decisions, as expedient.
Land use planning and resource management planning are two of the
five subsystems of the Ministry of Natural Resources' corporate
planning system. You are now confronting the problem of
determining the point or points at which the Environmental
Assessment Act can be most appropriately applied in the continuum
of planning and decision-making activities that these two
subsystems embody. Two prerequisities exist for the effective
application of the Act in this case: a commitment to the
underlying principles of the Act and a phased strategy for
applying the Act to the planning system.
While I agree with your statement that environmental assessment is
"a process which contributes to and complements planning but does
not replace it", I cannot see how this potential contribution can
be attained if the Act is not even applied to the land use
planning. Two main points bear amplification here. The first has
to do with the crucial importance of applying the Act at that
point in the planning system where policies are articulated,
sectoral and spatial priorities are set, and tradeoff positions
are established, and hence where the factors that will have a
major environmental impact are determined. The full range of
policies, priorities and tradeoffs is arrayed comprehensively only
at the land use planning stage, and not at later stages in the
system. The land use plans thus constitute the primary framework
for the Ministry of Natural Resources' decision-making, whether it
takes place at the Minister's level, at senior staff levels, or
through a multitude of compatible operational decision and
implementation actions at the administrative level in the field.
To apply the Act consistently to these individual decisions —
rather than to the framework itself — would be a monumental task.
Moreover, I doubt that the substance of a land use plan can be
expressed or its integrity and coherence adequately defined in
terras of the individual projects and implementation actions
stemming from it.
The second point has to do with the adequacy of the land use plans
themselves as a basis for decision-making. The Ministry of
Natural Resources has established a logical and coherent set of
planning principles and a general planning process which meet its
own needs for coordinated programming and program delivery. These
principles and process conform only in part to external criteria
for good planning, such as those stemming from the Environmental
...5/
Appendix 7
o -
March 24, 1983 Page 5
Assessment Act . A comparison of the land use planning and
environmental assessment processes reveals major problems of
compatability which can be amply illustrated by reference to the
Phase II district plan documents for the north. The former
process does not lead readily to the generation of alternative
planning models, objectives, targets or operational strategies,
which the latter calls for a progressive narrowing down of the
possible alternatives to the plan undertaking before selecting the
alternative recommended. The Phase II documents appear to provide
too narrow an array of options to serve as a focus for adequate
public response. Nor were environmental assessment principles
calling for the comparative evaluation of alternative plans in
social, economic and natural environmental terms effectively
implemented in the case of the northern district plan documents.
My concern about the application of the Environmental Assessment
Act to the land use planning thus rests on pragmatic rather than
hypothetical grounds. The principles embedded in the Act are
eminently relevant to the planning and their effective injection
into the planning process would have led to better plans that
could be relied upon as a basis for informed decisions. On the
other hand, applications of the Act would undoubtedly have
precluded early completion and approval of the plans.
It appears to me that the Ministry of Natural Resources' Planning
system and decision process could escape effective scrutiny under
the Environmental Assessment Act . Such an outcome could have
serious adverse consequences for northern development and would
erode the credibility of the Act and its underpinning principles.
Deferral of environmental assessment to some later stage in the
Ministry's planning and decision process would surely complicate,
fragment and proliferate application of the Act. Your strategy
for applying the Act will obviously have to encompass consistently
the variety of ways by which consequential decisions are made
respecting the allocation, use and management of natural
resources. Some major projects may be initiated and allocation
decisions reached at Cabinet level with or without reference to an
approved land use plan, while others may be deferred until after a
later resource management planning stage. A host of both major
and routine decisions will be made by administrative officers in
the regions and districts or by program executives at head office
in conformity to a Minister's directive or an approved land use
plan; the cumulative impact of this kind of decision-making can be
very great.
Surely, the credibility of the Environmental Assessment Act
requires that it be applied consistently in the process culmina-
ting in decisions to undertake a major project or to allocate
natural resources on a consequential scale. The intent of the Act
is that such decisions should flow from a narrowing down process
...6/
Appendix 7
6 -
March 24, 1983 Page 6
that considers alternatives to an undertaking as well as altern-
ative methods of carrying out an undertaking. This means to me
that the Ministry of Natural Resources' array of policies,
priorities, and tradeoff position should come under comprehensive
scrutiny before a decision to proceed vd.th a major project or
allocation can be reached.
Your comments and the Minister's on planning and decision-making
bring into question the degree of government commitment to compre-
hensive planning for northern development. The Minister's stance
on the land use plans appears to signal a further withdrawal from
comprehensive prospective planning at the provincial and large
regional scales. Your own assertion that prudent and pragmatic
administration of the Environmental Assessment Act should focus on
the significant impacts of concrete proposals already formulated
or nearly so appears to reinforce this trend; it is not in accord
with statements in your Ministry's Guidelines to the effect that
environmental assessment embodies comparative evaluation of the
social, economic and natural environmental consequences of
alternatives to an undertaking as a prelude to the selection of
the preferred alternative. Abandonment of environmental assess-
ment as a process for project selection and justification would
undercut a fundamental principle of the Act itself, reducing it to
little more than an impact assessment procedure to be applied
after irrevocable decisions have been made. Surely, where it is
deficient, the Environmental Assessment Act should be
strengthened, not weakened.
1 am not at all certain that the class environmental assessment
approach should be regarded as a panacea for reducing potentially
proliferating individual environmental assessments to a manageable
number in the case of Ontario north of 50°. A class environmental
assessment covers a group of projects which are "relatively small
in scale, recur frequently, and have a generally predictable range
of effects which ... are likely to cause relatively minor effects
in most cases". Projects that might be considered minor in scale
and impact elsewhere can have a devastating impact on the fragile
natural environments and social structures in the remote north;
for these, the class environmental assessment approach may simply
to be too blunt an instrument.
I will soon be drawing my conclusions and making ray recommen-
dations on the application of the Environmental Assessment Act to
the Ministry of Natural Resources' planning system and on other
matters respecting the Act. I want to ensure that all viewpoints
on the issues raised in this letter are brought to bear on this
task and therefore invite your comments in response.
...7/
Appendix 7
- 7
March 24, 1983 Page 7
In addition, I now seek written clarification of your own position
and intents on several specific matters. I have raised a number
of technical and tactical problems having to do with the
application of the Environmental Assessment Act to the planning
system, and I have pointed out some of the opportunities that will
be foregone if the Act is not applied to the land use plans. In
view of these concerns, can you provide additional reasons for the
decision that you have taken?
I have summarized some of the evident complexities that will
likely arise when applying the Act to the planning system. Does
the Ministry of the Environment have a comprehensive strategy for
applying the Act to the various products of the Ministry of
Natural Resources' planning system and to the various kinds of
decisions made at different levels within that Ministry with
respect to the allocation, use, management and protection of
natural resources? If so, what are its components? What are the
most important points at which the Act will be applied to the
planning system? To what extent do you intend to use individual
environmental assessment and class environmental assessment
approaches in the evaluation of projects and allocations relevant
to the Ministry's land disposition and programming activities in
Ontario North of 50°? At which stages do you consider that
environmental assessment can best contribute to and complement
planning? In what ways could it contribute?
I have raised some concerns about the environmental assessment
process stemming from the Act, in particular those prospective
provisions that call for identification and comparative evaluation
of alternatives to an undertaking as well as alternative methods
of carrying out an undertaking before a decision is reached to
proceed with the undertaking. Do you intend to retain these
prospective provisions in the Act and to continue to implement
them? If so, how would you apply them to the Ministry of Natural
Resources' planning system? To what extent would application of
these provisions to a major allocation decision require full
scrutiny of the Ministry's array of policies, priorities,
objectives and tradeoff positions respecting the use and manage-
ment of resources? In the event that several such allocation
decisions were to be reached over a period of time, how could
consistency in the scrutiny of policies, priorities, objectives
and tradeoff positions be secured and compatability between
projects be assured?
I was pleased to learn, at ray meeting in Thunder Bay on March
22nd, that Mr. David Redgrave, Assistant Deputy Minister with your
Environmental Planning Division, will be representing your
Ministry during the next round of my public hearings. I trust
that my remarks will assist him in preparing for this assignment.
...8/
Appendix 7
March 24, 1983 Page 8
Thank you for your willingness to assist me in the conduct of my
inquiry.
\
Yours very truly, '
J. E. J. Fahlgren
Commissioner
cc: Honourable W. G. Davis
Honourable A. W, Pope
Honourable R. R. McMurtry
Appendix 7
1 -
PRESENTATIONS MADE TO
THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
NOVEMBER 1977 TO SEPTEMBER 23. 1983
Sioux Lookout - November 7, 1977
- Tovm of Sioux Lookout, John E. Parry
- Lac Seul Band, Chief R. Ningewance
- Ministry of Northern Affairs, Honourable Leo Bernier
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Wilbert Jones
- Tom Fiddler
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Chief A. Rickard, President
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Wally McKay, Vice-President
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Chief C. O'Keese, Vice-President
- Northwestern Associated Chambers of Commerce,
Arnold Beebe, President
- Walter Thompson
- Wilfred Wingenroth
- Ben Garrett
- Mrs. F. Woolner
- Laura Switzer
Sioux Lookout - Bovember 8, 1977
- Ontario Forest Industries Association, Bob Laughlin
- The Great Lakes Paper Company, Warren S. Moore
- National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada, David Bates
- Children's Aid Society of the District of Kenora, John Parry
- Family and Children's Services of the District of Kenora,
Joyce Timpson
- Man-O-Min Wild Rice Co-operative, Jim Windigo
- Slate Falls Airways, Glen Clarke
- Wesley Houston
- York University, Faculty of Environmental Studies,
Joe De Pencier and Sue Farkas
- Archdeacon Kaye, Anglican Rector, Sioux Lookout
- Health and Welfare Canada, Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital,
Dr. G. Goldthorpe
- Ministry of Natural Resources, L. Ringham, Assistant Deputy
Minister and R.J. Burgar, Director,
Land Use Co-ordination Branch
- Armstrong Metis Association, Hector King
- Linda Pel ton
- Tom Terry
- Ernie Farlinger
- Patricia Air Transport Limited, R.J. Burnett,
Secretary-Treasurer
- Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Bill Coughlin, Chairman
- Brian Anderson
- Cathy Love
- Sioux Lookout Community Centre Board, Howard B. Lockhart
- Daily Bulletin, Stuart Cumraings, Publisher
Appendix 8
2 -
- Robert E. Bell
- Scott Landis
- Ruth Ingram
- Ifka Filipovich
- Helen Acton
- Michael Quince
- Mary Davies
Dryden - November 9, 1977
- The Dryden Observer, Alex Wilson, Publisher
- Town of Dryden, G. Rowat , Mayor
- Dryden Chamber of Commerce, Patrick Skillen, President
- Northern Ontario District Council of Lumber and Sawmill Workers
Union, T. Mior
- Kenora District Camp Owners Association, Leo Colvin, President
- Grand Council Treaty #3, John Kelly, Grand Chief,
and Willie Wilson - Anti-Mercury Ojibway Group [A-MOG] ,
Chief Roy McDonald and Chief Simon Fobister
- Northwest Ontario Travel Association, Allan Hovi,
General Manager
- Canadian Paperworkers Union, Local 105, A.G. Johnson
- Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Elmer Lick
- Ontario Public School Men Teachers Federation, Dryden District,
J.R. Livingston, President - Christopher Thomas
- Ralph Sullivan
Red Lake - November 14, 1977
- Tri-Municipal Committee of the Towns of Balmertown, Ear Falls
and Red Lake, Stanley Leschuk, Chairman
- Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company Limited,
James Williams, President
- Reed Limited, Kenneth D. Greaves, Senior Vice-President
- Cathy Morgan
- Vince Keller
- Doreen Heinrichs and Dana Robbins
- Canadian Paperworkers Union, Thomas Curley, Vice-President
- Madsen Community Association, David Symondson
- Doug Miranda
- Walter Papiel
- Ministry of the Environment, Walter Giles, Assistant Deputy
Minister
- Red Lake Businessmen's Association, K. McLeod
- Red Lake District Camp Owner's Association, Hugh Carlson
- The Red Lake Inter Agency Co-ordinating Committee, Cathy Wilson
- Helen Garrett
- Health Committee for Senior Citizens, Nellie Lemon
Red Lake - November 15, 1977
- Campbell Red Lake Mines Limited, Al Ludwig,
General Superintendent
- Cochenour Willans Gold Mines Limited, J.E.J. Fahlgren,
President and General Manager
- Pikangikum Band, Chief Ben Quill
Appendix 8
- 3
- Taking Responsible Environmental and Economic Safeguards
[T.R.E.E.S. ] , Jean Evans and Ron Robinson
- Association of Professional Engineers,
Lake of the Woods Chapter, Duncan Wilson
- Green Airways, George Green
- Griffith Mine, John D. Jeffries, Manager
- Red Lake Businessmen's Association, David Meadows
- James C. Seeley
- Tom Faess
- Orraond Sharpe
- Fiona and Terry Robinson
- Hugh Carlson
Ear Falls - November 16, 1977
- Tri-Municipal Committee, Stan Leschuk, Reeve, Township of Ear
Falls; D'Arcy Halligan, Secretary, Tri-Municipal Committee;
and Mrs. Carol Butterfield, Deputy Reeve, Red Lake
- Ear Falls and Perrault Falls Chamber of Commerce, Bob Ahlers
- Ministry of Natural Resources, R. Riley and Peter Anderson
- Frederick Bergman
- Ontario Professional Foresters Association, John Blair
- Ministry of Correctional Services,
Fred Boden and Eric Huddlestone
- Delia and Alex Rosenthal
- Dr. H.C. Maynard
- Red Lake Board of Education, Wayne Seller
- Ear Falls Metis and Non-Status Indian Association, Cheryl Smith
Timmins - November 23, 1977
- Timmins, City of, Economic Advisory Board, M. Doody, Mayor
- Ministry of Treasury, Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs,
D. Stevenson
- Town of Kapuskasing, Maurice Deschamps
- Ontario Paper Company Limited, J. Simmons, Vice-President
- Timmins-Porcupine Chamber of Commerce, John Muggins
- Canadian Association in Support of the Native Peoples,
Ann Marshall - Unorganized Communities of Northeastern Ontario,
Gerard Violette
- Douglas Piralott
- Ministry of Agriculture and Food, N. Tarleton and G. D'Aoust
- Onakawana Development Limited, Olaff Wolff, Vice-President
- Project North, Karmel Taylor-McCullum
- Ontario New Democratic Party Caucus, Jim Foulds, MPP, and
Marion Bryden, MPP
- Ontario Mining Association, J.M. Hughes, Executive Director, and
J. Ridout, Assistant Executive Director
- Northern Ontario Heritage Party, Ed Deibel
- Canadian Wildlife Service, Bruce Swltzer
- Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Brad Sloan
- Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology, J.H. Drysdale,
President
- Cochrane Teraiskaming Working Group for the Developmentally
Handicapped, J.H. Drysdale
Appendix 8
Timmlns - November 24, 1977
- Canadian Environmental Law Association, Paul Gavrel
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Chief A. Rickard, President
- Dr. John Spence
- Brunswick House Band, Chief Fred Neshawabin
- Mattagami Junior Band Council, Barbara Naveau
- Mattagami Band, Chief Willis McKay
- Mattachewan Band, Chief George Baptiste
- Michael Patrick
- Stanley Smith
- Cochrane Board of Trade, Talson Rody
- Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, George Payne
- Ministry of Revenue, Mr. O'Dowd and G. Picard
- Town of Cochrane, Maurice Hotte, Mayor
- Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company Limited, George Ingram
- Prospectors and Developers Association of Ontario, R. Allersten
- Garden River Band, Chief R. Boissoneau
- Ontario Trappers Association, A.J. Lalonde
- Ontario Hydro, John Dobson,.Vern Coles and Al Rogers
- Ontario Abitibi Band, Chief Jim Diamond
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Gilbert Faries
Geraldton - November 28, 1977
- Ministry of Transportation and Communications, J.C. Sherwood
- Polar Gas Project, Bruce MacOdrura
- Geraldton Composite High School, A.J. Korkola, Principal
- Union of Ontario Indians, D. Riley, President
- Father Brian Tiffin
- George Marek
- York University, Polar Gas Case Study Group, Greg Thompson and
Jan MacPherson
- Ontario Native Women's Association, Marlene Pierre, President
- Town of Geraldton, M. Power, Mayor
- College de Hearst, Raymond Tremblay, Director
- Nordinord and Boreal, Gilbert Heroux
- Fort Hope Band, Chief Charlie OKeese
- Long Lac Band, Chief Gabriel Echum
- Constance Lake Band, Chief Bentley Cheechoo
- Martin Falls Band, Chief Eli Moonias
- Constance Lake Youth Council, Rose Le Fleur , Cecile Sutherland,
Riley Anderson, and Teresa Sutherland
- Pioneer Club, Geraldton Senior Citizens, Ginger Ball and
Patricia Boyle
- Lake Nipigon Metis Association, Michael McGuire
- Millie Barrett
- Tommy Mattinas
- Mathew Sutherland
- John Evans
- Ange Vellleux
Appendix 8
- 5 -
Naklna - November 29, 1977
- Kimberly-Clark Pulp and Paper Co., G.L. Puttock, President
- Township of Longlac, Reginald Hopkin, Reeve
- Ontario Hydro, G. Patterson
- Ontario Public School Men Teachers Federation,
Geraldton District, Jay Daiter
- Improvement District of Nakina, D. Home, Secretary-Treasurer
- Nakina Tourist Area Outfitters Association, A. Rampton
- Canadian National Railway, J.R. Burns, Area Manager
- Nakina Chamber of Commerce, Peggy Swanson
- Daniel Yoki and Greg Bourdignon
- Canon John Long
- Norman Skinner
- Lakehead University, Native Students Association,
Claudia Irons and Ruby Morris
- Grand Council Treaty #3, Chief Peter Kelly
- Mrs. A.R. Mercier
- Northwestern Ontario International Women's Decade Co-ordinating
Council, Julie Fels and Leona Lang
- Stan Hunnisett
- Terrence Brian Swanson
- S.W. Lukinuk
Pickle Lake - December 5, 1977
- Bell Canada, Perry Brisbin
- Steep Rock Iron Mines, Larry Lamb
- Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, G. Payne and
Don Wallace
- Crolancia High School, grades 9 and 10, Bob Walli
- Don McKelvie
- Ministry of Transportation and Communications,
Victor Handforth and Jack Willock
- A.E. Brazeau
- Patricia Home Owners Association, Brian Booth
- Improvement District of Pickle Lake, Brian Booth
- Ministry of Northern Affairs, Phil Mostow
- UMEX Corporation, Doug Pittet
- Linda and Dan Pickett
- Connell and Ponsford District School Board, J. Murray, Chairman
- Don Koval
- Stan Werbisky
- Ontario Public Interest Research Group, Waterloo Local,
T. Cheskey and P. Weller
- Henry Munro
- Ron Slemko
- Rhys Rissman
Osnaburgh - December 6, 1977
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Chief Wallace McKay
- Jeremiah Sainnawap
- James Masakeyash
- Magnus James
Appendix 8
-
- Gordie Beardy
- Moses Fiddler
- Albert Mamakwa
- New Osnaburgh Band, Chief Maurice Loon
- Cat Lake Band, Chief Jasper Keesickquayash
- John Cooke
- Jim Mezzatay
- Slate Falls Band, Levius Wesley
- James Waboose
- North Caribou Lake Band, Chief Saul Keeash
- Muskrat Dam Band, Arthur Beardy
- Bearskin Lake Band, Chief Tom Kam
- Sachigo Lake Band, Peter Barkman and Solomon Beardy
- Pehtabun Area Chiefs Council, Bill Mamakeesic, Chairman
- Ambrose Mikinac
- Edward Machimity
Osnaburgh - December 7, 1977
- Big Trout Lake Band, Chief Stanley Sainnawap
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Chief Gerald McKay
- Wunnumrain Lake Band, Chief John Bighead
- Kingfisher Lake Band, Chief Simon Sakakeep
- Angling Lake Band, Chief Ananias Winter
- Simon Frogg
- Fort Severn Band, Chief Elijah Stoney
- Kasabonika Lake Band, Councillor Jeremiah McKay
and Harry Semple
- Long Dog Lake, Henry Frogg and Simon Frogg
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Fred Plain
- Lakehead University, Native Students Association,
Ruby Morris and Garnet Angeconeb
- Ange Veilleux
- Family and Children's Services of the District of Kenora,
Joyce Timpson
- Mrs. M. Kwandibens
- Roy Kaminawash
- Councillor Joseph Skunk
Toronto - December 15, 1977
- Provincial Secretariat for Social Development, Maureen Quigley
- University of Waterloo, School of Urban and Regional Planning,
Roger Suffling
- University of Waterloo, Department of Man-Environment Studies,
Carol Farkas
- Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association, Dean Wenborne,
President
- Planned Parenthood Ontario, Mrs. Eleanor McDonald,
Executive Director
- Joe De Pencier
- Trent University Native Association, Reid Dingwall
- Ministry of Colleges and Universities, Marie Louise Sebald
- Pollution Probe, Linda Pim
Appendix 8
- Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Roger Obonsawin,
Executive Director
- Canadian Association in Support of Native Peoples,
Toronto Chapter, Laura Kennedy
- Laurentian University, Dr. Tom Alcoze
- Laurentian University, Department of Geography, Ron Anderson
- University of Sudbury, Department of Native Studies,
James Duraont
- University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Department of
Psychiatry, Dr. Gerald H.C. Greenbaum
- Ministry of Community and Social Services, Dr. Cliff Williams
- Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Patrick Dare
- The Association of Concerned Torontonians
Inquiring into Ontario North, Paul Kennedy
- University of Toronto, Faculty of Forestry and Landscape
Architecture, Dr. Paul Aird
- York University, President's Advisory Committee on Northern
Studies, Dr. Graham Beakhurst
- A Group of Concerned Ottawa Citizens, Ann Cole
Toronto - December 16, 1977
- Development Education Centre, Eric King
- University of Toronto, Institute for Environmental Studies,
Dr. Kenneth Hare
- Ministry of Health, Gordon Martin
- Ontario Public Interest Research Group, Connie Clement
- Ministry of Education, R. Hunter and W. Morgan
- Chief Peter Kelly
- Ontario Society for Environmental Management, Dr. Robert Dorney
and Tom Lowen
- Frontier College, Jack Pearpoint
- Lakehead University, Dr. Robert Rosehart, Dean
- School of Experiential Education, Susan Stopps
- Ministry of Energy, Richard Lundeen
- The Committee in Support of Native Concerns,
London, George Webb
- University of Waterloo, Faculty of Environmental Studies,
R.T. Newkirk, Associate Professor, and J.G. Nelson, Dean
- Oxfam-Canada, Dr. Roger Rolfe
- Ministry of Labour, Gerald Swartz
- Quaker Committee on Native Concerns, Nancy Pocock
- National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada,
Carol Bailey
- Ontario Welfare Council, Donald Bellamy and David Kennedy
- Continental Hydroponics Limited, Gerald Rosenberg
- The Conservation Council of Ontario, M.J. Bacon, President
Timnins - December 21, 1977
- Canadian Mental Health Association, Timmins Branch,
Shirley Rokeby
- Provincial Secretary for Resources Development, Honourable
Rene Brunelle
Appendix 8
- 8 -
- Town of Smooth Rock Falls, P. Kelly, Mayor
- Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Timmins Chapter,
Martha Laughren
- The Cochrane District Health Council, Floyd Dale
- Northeastern Ontario Municipalities Action Group, Rene Piche,
Chairman
- Prospectors and Developers Association, Porcupine Branch,
John Larche
- Timmins Women's Resource Centre, Lynne Wisniewski
- Allan Pope, MPP
- Mike Zudel
- Gerry Martin
Sandy Lake - January 10, 1978
- Tom Fiddler
- Grand Council Treaty //9 , Wally McKay
- North Spirit Lake, Councillor Norman Ray
- Deer Lake Band, Arthur Meekis
- Sandy Lake Band, Chief Saul Fiddler
- MacDowell Lake Band, Magnus James
- Poplar Hill Band, Councillor Judas Kettle Strang
and Absolum Moose
- Fred Meekis
- Pikangikum Band, Chief Ben Quill
Sandy Lake - January 11, 1978
- Sandy Lake Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Abel Ray and
Joe Meekis
- Kitiwin Communications Association, Eddie Fiddler and
Donald Mamakeesic
- Northern Native Education Council, Richard Morris
- Whitehead Moose
- Pehtabun Area Chiefs Council, Bill Mamakeesic, Chairman
- Jacob Fiddler
Kenora - January 17, 1978
- Grand Council Treaty #3, John Kelly, Grand Chief
- Town of Kenora, George McMillan, Councillor
- Ministry of Culture and Recreation, Northwest Region, Paddy
Reid, Regional Archaeologist
- Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, W. Wake, President
- Northwestern Commercial Fisheries Federation, Alice Longe
- Lake of the Woods Pow-Wow Club, Joe Morrison
- Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Lee Doyle
- Ontario Human Rights Commission, Bromley Armstrong
- Canadian Institute of Forestry, Lake of the Woods Section,
G. Brown
- Northwestern Ontario District Progressive Conservative Youth
Association, Fergus Devins
- Kenora Paper Mill Unions Federated Committee, L. Hudson
- Nancy Morrison
- Warner Troyer
Appendix 8
- 9
- Ontario Metis and Non-Status Indian Association, Zone 1,
Brenda Prouty
- Town of Keewatin, Township of Jaffray Melick,
R.W. Kahoot, Mayor
- Ontario Federation of Labour, Clifford Pilkey
and Shelley Acheson
- Ministry of Natural Resources, R. Riley
- Roberta Keesick
- Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division,
Wendy Hill
- Kenora Ministerial Association, Reverend John Fullmer
- Dr. Brian Russell
- Bearskin Lake Air Service, Karl Friesen
- Kenora Women's Coalition, Valerie Kellberg and Rosalyn Copenace
- Kenora District Campowner's Association, Dick Motlong
- Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology,
Richard Staples, Danny Dumas and Brian Larson
- Canadian Paperworkers Union, Local 238,
Carl Stephens, President
- The Kenora-Keewatin and District Labour Council, Carl Stephens
- Reverend Stuart Harvey
Whitedog - January 18, 1978
- Islington Band [Whitedog Reserve], Chief Roy McDonald
- Councillor Charles Wagamese
- Lori Wagamese
- Grand Council Treaty #3, John Kelly, Grand Chief
- Grassy Narrows Band, Chief Simon Fobister
- Fred Cameron
- Baptist Bigblood
- Tony Henry
- William McDonald
- Robert Land, Sr.
- Tommy Keesick
- Marcel Pahpahsay
- Sister Simone Lefebvre
- Anti-Mercury Ojibway Group [A-MOG], Tony Henry
- Allan Carpenter
Kenora - January 19, 1978
- Ted Hall
- Grand Council Treaty #3, John Kelly, Grand Chief
- Grand Council Treaty //3, Chief Philip Gardner
- Grand Council Treaty #3, Chief Peter Kelly
- Grand Council Treaty #3, Willie Wilson
- Grand Council Treaty #3, Nancy Morrison
- Grand Council Treaty #3, Shirley Chapman
- Shoal Lake Band, Chief Robin Greene
- Grand Council Treaty //3, Colin Wasacase
- Kenora Rotary Club, A. Dodds
- Addiction Research Foundation, Garth Toombs and Joe Brown
- Publicity Board of Kenora, Randy Jackson
- Kenora-Rainy River District Health Council, Bob Muir
Appendix 8
10
- Dave Schwartz
- Mac Morrison
- Barry Gibson
- Atikaki Council, Marc Wermager, Executive Director
- Kenora Physically Handicapped Action Group, Winnie Magnusson
- Unorganized Communities Association of Northwestern Ontario,
Kathy Davis, Executive Director
- Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, Keith Jobbitt
- North of Superior Travel Association, Keith Jobbitt
- Law Union of Ontario, Bob Edwards
- Mantario Wilderness Society, T.P. Walker
- Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce, Doug Johnson
- Barney Lamm
- Fred Greene
Moosonee - February 1, 1978
- Grand Council Treaty //9, Chief Andrew Rickard, President
- Moosonee Development Area Board, Ray Cool, Chairman
- Arnold Peters, MP
- James Bay Education Centre, Ivor Jones, Director
- Moosonee Board of Trade, Harold Peters, Secretary
- Moosonee Public School, Grade 8
- Moosonee Recreation Committee, Jacques Begin
- Daniel Spence
- Northern Native Education Council, Richard Morris
- North Cochrane District Family Services, Ron Pulsifer, President
- Moosonee Metis Association, Bonnie Trapper
- Bishop Leguerriere
- Frederick Whiskeychan
- WaWaTa Native Communications Society, Garnet Angeconeb
- Joe Linklater
- James Locke
- Ross Irwin
Moose Factory - February 2, 1978
- James Wesley
- Kashechewan Band, Chief Willie Stevens and
Councillor Sinclair Williams
- Attawapiskat Band, Chief Fred Wesley
- James Bay Chiefs, Chief Tom Archibald
- Fort Albany Band, Chief John Nakogee
- Winisk Band, Chief Louis John-George
- Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development,
Honourable Hugh Faulkner
- John Fletcher
- Grade 5A, Moose Fort School, Susan Vincent
- Gilbert Faries
- Emile Nakogee
- Moose Band, Chief Munroe Linklater
- Grade 6B, Moose Factory Public School, Colleen McLeod and
Wally Turner
- Raphael Wabano
Appendix 8
- 11 -
- St. Thomas' Anglican Church, Dr. Redford Louttit and
Reverend J. A. Stennett
- John Long
- Grade 5, Moose Factory Public School, Lyle McLeod,
Brian Wesley, Howard Rickard and Heather Faries
- James Bay Cree Society, Peggy Sailors, Clifford Trapper and
Ida Faries
- Simeon Metat
- Moose Factory Island Public School Board,
Patrick Chilton, Secretary-Treasurer
- Warner West
- Ernie T.S. Sutherland
- Margaret Solomon
- Sinclair Cheechoo
- George Katkapupit
- Sinclair Williams
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Chief A. Rickard
Sioux Lookout - November 22, 1982
- Chief Tom Fiddler and James Stevens
- Town of Sioux Lookout, John Parry, Mayor
- Lac Seul Band, Duncan Angeconeb, Jack Angeconeb
and Tom Peetwayway
- Sioux Lookout Chamber of Commerce, Arnold Beebe
Sioux Lookout - November 23, 1982
- Summer Beaver Settlement Council, Leonard Sugarhead, Albert
Neshinapaise, Chief Mike Wabasse and Sandy Yellowhead
- Tovm of Dryden, T.S. Jones, Mayor, George Boissoneault and
Susan Wells, Councillors
- Brian McMillan and David Peerla
- Savant Sturgeon Tourist Outfitters Association, Dennis Mousseau
- Dale Staimbrook
- Dennis Mousseau
- Ernie Farlinger
- Grand Council Treaty #9, Wally McKay, Grand Chief; Chief Harvey
Yesno, Central PDA; Chief Gerry McKay, Kayahna PDA;
Josias Fiddler, Tribal Chief, Pehtabun PDA;
Chief Andrew Kakepetura, Sandy Lake; and Grace Matawapit,
District Tribal Co-ordinator , Windigo PDA Michael Quince
Michael Quince
Sioux Lookout - November 24, 1982
- Sioux Lookout Trappers Association, Ian Marshall, President, and
Wilfred Wingenroth
- McKenzie Forest Products, Ted Couch, Comptroller, Mike Auld and
Hal Brinley
- Don Colborne
- Wilfred Wingenroth and Family
- Iris Czinkota
- Michael Quince
- Ontario Metis Association, Zone 1, Shirley O'Connor,
Board Director
Appendix 8
12 -
- Helen Garrett
- Bearskin Lake Air Service Limited, Harvey Friesen
- Joyce Timpson
- Mary Davies
- Parish Davies '
Red Lake - November 30, 1982
- Green Airways, John A. Green
- Ontario Metis Association, Tom O'Connor
- Township of Red Lake, Orraond Sharpe, Reeve
- Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce, Bob Axford
- Mary Hopperstad
Red Lake - December 1, 1982
- Red Lake Public School, Students from Grades VII and VIH
- Great Lakes Forest Products Limited, Warren S. Moore
- Deer Lake Band, Chief Douglas Meekis
- Hugh Carlson
- Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre, Ross Mamakeesic
- Ron Robinson and Richard Witham
- Trout Lake Campers Association, Ron Booi
- Nils Dahl, represented by Ron Booi
- J.J. Richthammer, represented by Ron Booi
- Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce, Bob Axford
Ear Falls - December 2, 1982
- Kenora District Campowners Association, Bruce Gethen, President
- Township of Ear Falls, S. Leschuk, Reeve
- Morris Sinclair
- Andrea Langford
- Fred Bergman
- Mary Hopperstad
- Hugh Carlson
- Bruce Gethen
- Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce, Ad Hoc Committee
- Raymond Frank
- Wm. Allen Geary
Moosonee - January 11, 1983
- Moosonee Development Board, Gerry McCauley, Chairman, and
Ruben Ploughman
- Northern Lights High School, Reverend John Clark
and John Campbell
- Bishop Jules Leguerrier
- Ontario Metis Association, Zone 3, Earl Danyluk,
Valerie McGregor and Kim McComb
- Raphael Wabano, interpreted by Chief Reg. Louttit
Moose Factory - January 12, 1983
- Moose Factory Band, Chief Ernest Rickard
Appendix 8
13
Moose Factory - January 13, 1983
- Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology, Joe Drysdale,
President
- James Bay Tribal Council, Fred Wesley, Chairman
- Attawapiskat Band Council, Chief Reg. Louttit
- Richard Lueger
- Norman Wesley
Cochrane - January 18, 1983
- Town of Cochrane, Mrs. Norah Kirkbride, Acting Mayor
- Concerned Women's Group, Pauline LaRose and Dorothy Mercier
- Town of Cochrane, Mrs. Norah Kirkbride, Acting Mayor
- Lome Fleece
- New Post Band #69, Chief Peter Archibald
- Dan Kucheran
Cochrane - January 19, 1983
- Cochrane Tourist Outfitters Association, Lloyd Rogerson
- Ininew Friendship Centre, Gerald Courville, Vice-President
- Town of Iroquois Falls, Lawrence Cutten, Mayor
- Ray Brisson
Hearst - January 20, 1983
- Town of Hearst, Gilles Gagnon, Mayor
- Town of Hearst, Robert Trahan, Councillor
- Gilbert Heroux, represented by Victor Granholm
- Hearst Chamber of Commerce, Rene Fontaine
- Bart Verruyt
- Township of Mattice, Paul Zorzetto, Reeve
- Cobie Love
- Nordex, represented by Jean Piche
- Suzanne Veilleux
- Victor Granholm
Armstrong - January 27, 1983
- Armstrong Wilderness Outfitters Association, Warren Smith
- Armstrong Area Chamber of Commerce, Joyce Neill, Vice-President
- Armstrong Wilderness Outfitters, Warren Smith, Wes Werbowy and
Don Plumridge
- Frontier College, Jack Pearpoint, President, represented by
Ed Mac Arthur
- Donald Patience
- Gus Kotter
- Armstrong Metis Association, Hector King, President,
Harry Sinoway and Mike McGuire
- Whitesands Band, Chief Doug Sinoway
- Gull Bay Reserve #55, Chief Tim Esquega
Appendix 8
- 14 -
Geraldton - February 1, 1983
- Town of Geraldton, Michael Power, Mayor
- Pioneer Club, Mrs. Ginger Ball
- Amikwiish, Michael Power
- Economic Development Sub Committee of the Northwestern Ontario
International Women's Decade Council, Julie Fels and
Laurie Cunningham
- Lake Nipigon Metis Association, Patrick McGuire Sr., President,
and Bart Verruyt
- Pagwa Metis Association, Bart Verruyt
- Eugene LeFrancois
Geraldton - February 2, 1983
- Township of Nakina, Rae Mercier, Deputy Reeve
- Al Korkola, Principal, Geraldton Composite High
- Rocky Bay Indian Reserve #1, Roger Nakanagis, Acting Chief, and
Jerry Wynne
Timmins - February 15, 1983
- Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters, Roger Liddle, Executive
Director
- Timmins Chamber of Commerce, Bruce Del Guidice, President,
Michael Opper representing W.C. Schure, and Roy Lindsay
- Faucher Logging Limited, Antonio Faucher, interpreted by
Treva Cousineau
- City of Timmins, Victor Power, Mayor
- Georges Nadeau
- Danny Villars
Tinnnins - February 16, 1983
- Hollinger-Argus Mines Limited, J.B. Stubbins
- Association canadienne-francaise de 1' Ontario,
Jocelyn Beauchamps, Timmins area; David Comerford,
Cochrane-Iroquois Falls area; and Andre Rheaurae,
Hearst-Smooth Rock Falls area
- Prospectors and Developers Association, Ralph Allersten,
President
- David and Joanne Sewell
- Timmins Horticultural Society, Kees Stryland
- Town of Hearst, Jan Newsome , Secretary-Treasurer
- Canadian Institute of Forestry, Jacques Tremblay
- Ontario Paper Company, Rob Torachick
- Brad Sloan
Thunder Bay - February 21, 1983
- City of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Economic Development
Corporation, Richard Charbonneau, General Manager
- Lakehead University, Dr. R. Rosehart, Dean of
University Schools, and Dr. J. Stapleton, Dean of Education
- Michael Dunnill
Appendix 8
- :5 -
- Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology,
Ralph Scarf, Dean of Continuing Education, and Larry Hanson,
Director of Projects and Community Services
- Communist Party of Canada [Ontario], John MacLennan, Ontario
Organiser; Gordon Massie, Ontario Leader; Bruce Magnusson,
Ontario Northern Development Secretary; and Paul Pugh
- Tovmship of Beardmore , Eric Rutherford, Reeve
- Ray Furlotte
Thunder Bay - February 22, 1983
- Algoma Central Railway, W.L. Oliphant, Manager,
Lands & Forests Division
- Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists, J.E. Hanna
- Employment and Immigration Canada, Paul Scott,
Chief of Affirmative Action
- Ontario Lumber Manufacturer's Association, J.M. Atkinson
- Conservation Council of Ontario, Simon Miles, Researcher
Thunder Bay - February 23, 1983
- Algonquin Wildlands League, Arlin Hackman, Executive Director
- Ontario Metis Association, Wil Hedican
- Dr. J. David Martin
- Janice Yule
- Parks for Tomorrow, David Bates and Bill Addison
- North Shore Citizen's Committee for Responsible
Forest Management, Gordon Whitely
- Sidney Fels and Brian Corbishley
Thunder Bay - April 11, 1983*
Submitter - Summer Beaver Settlement Council, Donald Colborne,
Counsel; Leonard Sugarhead; Albert Neshinapaise ,
Economic Development Co-ordinator; Leonard Sugarhead;
Chief Mike Wabasse; Sandy Yellowhead, Councillor
Parties - Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce,
David Meadows, Counsel
- Summer Beaver Settlement Council, Donald Colborne,
Counsel, and Mary Kelly, Counsel
- Sioux Lookout Trappers Council, Wilfred Wingenroth
- Kayahna Area Tribal Council,
George Surdykowski , Counsel
Witness - Ministry of Natural Resources,
Honourable Alan Pope, Minister
Thunder Bay - April 27-28, 1983*
Parties - Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association,
Robert B. Bell, Counsel
- Kayahna Area Tribal Council, George Surdykowski,
Counsel
*These hearings included formal examination and cross-examination
of witnesses.
Appendix 8
- 16
- Summer Beaver Settlement Council, Mary Kelly, Counsel
- Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce, David Meadows,
Counsel
- Sioux Lookout Trappers Council, Wilfred Wingenroth
Witness - Deer Lake Band, Morley Meekis
- Summer Beaver Settlement Council
- Ministry of the Environment, J.N. Mulvaney, Q.C.;
M.B. Jackson, Q.C.; David Redgrave, Assistant Deputy
Minister; Paul Rennick, Director of the Environmental
Assessment Branch; Wally Vrooraan, Regional Director
Northwest Region; Robert Hodgins;
and Charles J. Paulter
Fort Severn - June 2, 1983
- Fort Severn Band Council, Ken Thomas, Band Administrator
- Fort Severn Local Land Use Study, Archie Stoney, Co-ordinator
- Abel Bluecoat, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- James Matthews, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Sammy Bluecoat, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Elijah Albany, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Geordie Thomas, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Jeremiah Stoney, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Chief Enus Crowe, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Elijah Stoney, interpreted by Archie Stoney
- Ed Koostachin
Kingfisher Lake - June 14, 1983
- Mary Lou Frogg
- Swanson Mekanak, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Chief Simon Sakakeep, interpreted by Elijah Begg
- John George Sainnewap, interpreted by Elijah Begg
- James Mamakwa, Band Administrator
- Noah Winter, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Swanson Mekanak, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Rhoda Winter, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Ina Mamakwa, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Janet Mekanak, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Metias Sainnewap, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Isaac Kaomi , interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Lydia Begg, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
- Reverend Winter, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
Wunnummin Lake - June 13, 1983
- Isiaah Mamakwa, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- George Sainnawap, interpreted by Dean Cromarty
- Thomas Angees, interpreted by Dean Cromarty
- Alex McKay, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- Isiaah Gliddy, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- Jordas Angus, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- Reverend Moses Angees, interpreted by Dean Cromarty
- Charlie Beaver, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
Appendix 8
- 1?
- Sam McKay, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- Eli Chinow, interpreted by Dean Cromarty
- Joseph Giiddy, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- Joe Bighead, interpreted by Dean Cromarty
- David McKay, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
- Peter Martin, interpreted by Simon Winnepetonga
Kasabonika Lake - June 16, 1983
- Chief Jeremiah McKay, interpreted by Mike Morris
- Simeon McKay, interpreted by Roy Gregg
- Martine Morris, interpreted by Roy Gregg and Mike Morris
- Sarah Mamakwa, interpreted by Mike Morris
- Elijah Anderson, interpreted by Mike Morris
- William Anderson, interpreted by Mike Morris
- Elizabeth D. Anderson, interpreted by Mike Morris
- David E. Anderson, interpreted by Mike Morris
- Emily Gregg, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Jacob Winter, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Levi Brown, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Eno Anderson
- Jimmy Anderson, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Irene Semple, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Christine C. Anderson, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Eno Anderson, on behalf of the youth of the community
- Harry Semple, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Gordon Morris
- Josie Anderson
- Barnabus Gregg, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Geordie Semple, interpreted by Gordon Morris
- Douglas Semple
Wapekeka - June 17, 1983
- Angus Brown, interpreted by Stanley McKay
- Jeremiah Winter, interpreted by Stanley Winter
- Albert McKay, interpreted by Stanley McKay
- Anninias Winter, interpreted by Stanley McKay
- Saggius Frogg
- Charlie Roundsky, interpreted by Simon Frogg
- Simeon Crowe, interpreted by Simon Frogg
- Chief Simon Brown, Interpreted by Simon Frogg
- Alan Brown
- Simon Frogg
Wunnunnnin Lake - June 20, 1983
- Chief John Bighead, interpreted by Bill Mamakeesic
Big Trout Lake - June 22, 1983
- Chief Gerry McKay
- Joe Morris, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Mary Ann Anderson, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Jonas Duncan, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
Appendix 8
- 18 -
- Aglace McKay, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Mike Anderson, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Daniel Nanokeesic, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Reverend Alan Hardley, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Steve Morris, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Bill Morris, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Solomon Begg
- Elizah Childs, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- George Duncan, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Levi McKay, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
- Rubina Chapman, interpreted by Stanley Sainnewap
Toronto - June 29, 1983*
Parties - Deer Lake Band, Adrian Hill, Counsel
- Kayahna Area Tribal Council,
George Surdykowski, Counsel
Witness - Ministry of Natural Resources, Honourable Alan Pope,
Minister
Toronto - June 30, 1983*
Parties - Red Lake District Chamber of Commerce, Adrian Hill,
Counsel
- Kayahna Area Tribal Council, George Surdykowski,
Counsel
- Great Lakes Forest Products Limited,
Reno Stradiotto, Q.C., Counsel
- Sioux Lookout Trappers' Council, Wilfred Wingenroth
Witness - Great Lakes Forest Products Limited, Warren S. Moore
Fort Hope - September 21, 1983
- Fort Hope Band, Joyce Kleinfelder, Consultant, and
Chief Harvey Yesno
- Noah Atlookan
- Temius Nate
- Minnie Iskineegish
- Stanley Okeese
- Patrick Moonias
- Cornelius Nate
- Gordon Waswa
- Henry Boyce
- Thomas Moonias
Fort Hope - September 22, 1983
- Charlton Slipper jack
- Solomon Atlookan
- Louis Nate
*These hearings included the formal examination and
cross-examination of witnesses.
Appendix 8
19 -
- Andrew Waboose
- Steven Atlookan
- Ida Atlookan
- Louis Waswa
- Johnny Keeskadie
- Robert Moonlas
- John Quisses
- Noah Atlookan
- David Boyce
- Solomon Wabano
- Helen Neshinapaise
- Donat Moonias
- Victoria Atlookan
- Christine Yesno
Fort Hope - September 23, 1983
- Edward Nate
- Noah Atlookan
- Andrew Nate
- Temius Nate
- Chief Harvey Yesno
Appendix 8
- 1
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS AND EXHIBITS PRESENTED TO
THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO MR. JUSTICE E. PATRICK HARTT
ABITIBI PAPER COMPANY LIMITED, H. Rosier, President
ADOLESCENT PROGRAM, MOOSE FACTORY ZONE, Dr. D.W. Richardson
ALGOMA CENTRAL RAILWAY, S.A. Black, General Manager
ALGOMA STEEL CORPORATION LIMITED, John MacNamara, President
ASSOCIATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES TECHNICIANS
BALMERTOWN, THE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT OF
BENNETT, Ruth, Ovid, Colorado
BRENNAN, Roger, Windsor, Ontario
BROUGHTON, Jim, Milton, Ontario
CALVIN CHRISTIAN MEMORIAL SCHOOL
CANADIAN BROADCASTING COEIPORATION
CANADIAN PULP AND PAPER ASSOCIATION, Gordon Minnes, Secretary
COLLINS, John J., Toronto, Ontario
CORRISTINE, Susan, Toronto, Ontario
CROFTS, Bruce H., Toronto, Ontario
DINGLE, Jennifer, Downsview, Ontario
DOMINION FOUNDRIES & STEEL LIMITED, F.H. Sherman, President
DOMTAR WOODLANDS LIMITED, H.J. Iverson, R.P.E.,
Manager of Forestry
FEAR, Julia K. , Toronto, Ontario
FINLAYSON, Donald, Toronto, Ontario
FORD, Paul M. , Elmira, New York
FRANKEL, Jessica, San Diego, California
GERALDTON DISTRICT AIRPORT COMMISSION
GERALDTON DISTRICT HOSPITAL, Bessie P. Newman, Administrator
GRIFFITHS, CO., Oxdrift, Ontario
HALL, Michael B., Mount Berry, Georgia
KAMINISTIQUIA THEATRE LABORATORY, Michael Sobota
KENDRICK, Loreine Y., Brooklyn, New York
KITCHENER-CONESTOGA ROTARY CLUB
KLAPPER, Marion Foley, Jamaica, New York
KUCHERAN, Dan M.
LEE, Peter, Winnipeg, Manitoba
LESIUK, John, Red Lake, Ontario
LIEDTKE, G.A., Ear Falls, Ontario
MALACHIE CAMPERS' ASSOCIATION, D. Bruce Main, President
MARTIN, David, Lakehead University
MATTSON, Ronald E. , Minneapolis, Minnesota
MERKLI, Guido, Dryden, Ontario
MOFFAT, D.S., Ottawa, Ontario
MORTON, Irma, Geraldton, Ontario
MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PROVINCIAL PLANNING, Northwestern
Ontario, Dale Willoughby, Chairman
NATIONAL SURVIVAL INSTITUTE, Beatrice Oliverstri
ONTARIO FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, W.T. Foster, President
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF HOUSING, D.A. Crosbie, Deputy Minister
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TOURISM
Appendix 9
- 2 -
PIPPY, Harold, Burlington, Ontario
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA Board of World Mission
PRESS, Maria J., Brooklyn, New York
PRESSMAN, Ruth V., Brooklyn, New York
PYLE, Kathy, Delhi, New York
REID, Patrick, MPP, Rainy River District
ROWLEY, John P., Richmond, Virginia
RUTHERFORD, S.B., Orono, Ontario
SAVAGE, Harvey S. , Toronto, Ontario
SCHUTZ, J. Evelynn, Central City, Nebraska
SIPPELL, David W. , Sioux Lookout, Ontario
SUK, Jennifer, St. Catharines, Ontario
TELESTAT CANADA, Douglas Golden, President
TETROE, Gordon, Kenora, Ontario
THUNDER BAY & DISTRICT LABOUR COUNCIL
UNITED SOCIETY OF FRIENDS WOMEN, I.W. Patrick,
Stewardship Secretary
UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA, G. Wonnick
VACHON, Joanne, North Bay, Ontario
VALOIS, Elizabeth, Narragansett, Rhode Island
WALSH, Norman, Oneonta, New York
WARING, Y., Jefferson, New York
WHITE, Jo-anne, Sudbury, Ontario
WOLFE, Robert and Catherine, New Liskeard, Ontario
IffilGHT, Daniel A., Atikokan, Ontario
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO J.E.J. FAHLGREN
ABITIBI-PRICE INC., G.P. Breckenridge, R.P.F., Divisional Woods
Manager, Iroquois Falls, Ontario
ABITIBI-PRICE INC., N.J. Saltarelli, Divisional Forester,
Iroquois Falls, Ontario
ABITIBI-PRICE INC., J.E. Tait, General Manager, Woodlands and
Sawmills, Ontario-Manitoba, Toronto, Ontario
ALGOMA CENTRAL RAILWAY, W.L. Oliphant, R.P.F., Manager,
Lands & Forests Division, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
AMIKWIISH, Michael Power, Geraldton, Ontario
ANDERSON, David, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, Elijah, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, Elizabeth, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, Isaac, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, Jimmy, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, Josie, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, Moses, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANDERSON, William, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
ANISHINABIE, Bennett, Deer Lake, Ontario
ARMSTRONG AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Loretta Foss, Secretary,
Armstrong, Ontario
ARMSTRONG METIS ASSOCIATION, Hector King, President,
Armstrong, Ontario
ARMSTRONG WILDERNESS OUTFITTERS, W. Smith, Armstrong, Ontario
ARTHUR, K. Elizabeth, Thunder Bay, Ontario
ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE-FRANCAISE DE L' ONTARIO,
Jocelyn R. Beauchamp, Timrains, Ontario
ASSOCIATION OF CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES FOR NORTHERN STUDIES,
Ottawa, Ontario
Appendix 9
- 3 -
ATTAWAPISICM BAND COUNCIL, Attawpiskat, Ontario
BEARDMORE, TOWNSHIP OF, Eric Rutherford, Reeve,
Beardmore, Ontario
BEARSKIN LAKE AIR SERVICE LIMITED, Harvey Friesen,
Sioux Lookout, Ontario
BEARSKIN LAKE BAND, Severn Fox, Bearskin Lake, Ontario
BEATON, Brian, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
BEGG, Simeon, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
BROCK UNIVERSITY, Fikret Berkes, Pli.D., Institute of Urban and
Environmental Studies, St. Catharines, Ontario
BROWN, Levi, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
CAMPBELL RED LAKE MINES LIMITED, C.H. Brehaut , Vice-President,
Operations, Toronto, Ontario
CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW RESEARCH FOUNDATION, R. Woods,
Project Director, Toronto, Ontario
CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF FORESTRY, J.F. Tremblay, Section Director,
Northern Ontario Section, Ottawa, Ontario
CANADIAN SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGISTS, Ontario Chapter,
J.E. Hanna, Toronto, Ontario
CANADIAN WILDLIFE FEDERATION, K.A. Brynaert,
Executive Vice-President, Toronto, Ontario
CARLSON, Hugh, Red Lake, Ontario
CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF MOOSONEE, Jules Leguerrier, O.M.I. ,
Bishop of Moosonee, Moosonee, Ontario
COCHRANE ENTERPRISES LIMITED, Jack Phillips, Woodland Manager,
Cochrane, Ontario
COCHRANE, CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF, J.R. Fortier, Mayor,
Cochrane, Ontario
COCHRANE TOURIST OUTFITTERS ASSOCIATION, Lloyd Rogerson,
Cochrance, Ontario
COLBORNE, D.R. , Thunder Bay, Ontario
COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (ONTARIO), J. MacLennan,
Ontario Organiser, Toronto, Ontario
CONCERNED WOMEN'S GROUP, P. LaRose, Iroquois Falls, Ontario
CONFEDERATION COLLEGE OF APPLIED ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY,
B.E. Curtis, President, Thunder Bay, Ontario
DAHL, Nils v.. Red Lake, Ontario
DEER LAKE BAND, Chief Douglas Meekis, Deer Lake, Ontario
DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION CENTRE, Toronto, Ontario
DOME MINES GROUP, C.H. Brehaut, Vice-President, Operations,
Toronto, Ontario
DRYDEN, TOWN OF, Mayor T.S. Jones
DUNNILL, Michael, Thunder Bay, Ontario
EAR FALLS, COUNCIL OF THE TOWNSHIP OF, Reeve, S.R. Leschuk,
Ear Falls, Ontario
EAR FALLS-PERRAULT FALLS TOURIST OUTFITTERS ASSOCIATION,
Andrea Langford, Ear Falls, Ontario
E.B. EDDY PRODUCTS LIMITED, William Schure, General Manager,
McChesney Lumber Division, Timrains, Ontario
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND IMMIGRATION, Paul Scott,
Chief, Affirmative Action, Ontario Region, Toronto, Ontario
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, Honourable John Roberts
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, H.L. Ferguson,
Regional Director General
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY, TRADE & COMMERCE,
D.C. Graham, Director-General, Operations, Ontario Region
Appendix 9
- 4
FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REVIEW OFFICE,
R.M. Robinson, Executive Chairman, Hull, Quebec
FELS, Sydney and CORBISHLEY, Brian, Thunder Bay, Ontario
FIDDLER, Chief Thomas and STEVENS, James
FORMER CHIEFS COMMITTEE OF WINISK, Louis Bird, Winisk, Ontario
FORT FRANCES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Gordon McBride, President,
Fort Frances, Ontario
FORT SEVERN BAND COUNCIL, Fort Severn, Ontario
FROGG, Charlie, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
FRONTIER COLLEGE, J.C. Pearpoint , President, Toronto, Ontario
GARRETT, Mrs. Helen, Ignace, Ontario
GEARY JR., W.A. , Red Lake, Ontario
GERALDTON BOARD OF EDUCATION, N.R. Labranche,
Business Administrator, Geraldton, Ontario
GERALDTON COMPOSITE HIGH, A. Korkola, Principal,
Geraldton, Ontario
GIBSON, P.S., Timmins, Ontario
GREAT LAKES FOREST PRODUCTS LIMITED, W.S. Moore, Manager,
Forestry Operations, Thunder Bay, Ontario
GREGG, Emily, Kasabonika, Ontario
HEARST, TOWN OF, Robert Trahan, Councillor, Hearst, Ontario
HEARST PLANNING BOARD, Jan Newsorae, Secretary-Treasurer,
Hearst Ontario
HEROUX, G.D., Hearst, Ontario
HOLLINGER ARGUS LIMITED, J.B. Stubbins, P.Eng., Toronto, Ontario
HUBBERT, G.R., Markdale, Ontario
ININEW FRIENDSHIP CENTRE, Board of Directors, Gerald Courville,
Vice-President, Cochrane, Ontario
IROQUOIS FALLS, TOWN OF, Gina M. Fernandez
JAMES BAY FRONTIER, Guy Lamarche, Manager, Timmins, Ontario
JAMES BAY TRIBAL COUNCIL, F.P. Wesley, Chairman,
Moose Factory, Ontario
JONES, T.S., Consultant, Dryden, Ontario
KASABONIKA LAKE BAND, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
KASABONIKA TRAPPERS, G. Morris, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
KAYAHNA TRIBAL COUNCIL, Big Trout Lake, Ontario
KENORA DISTRICT CAMP OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Bruce Gethen, President,
Perrault Falls, Ontario
KINGFISHER LAKE BAND, Kingfisher Lake, Ontario
KOTTER, Gus, Armstrong, Ontario
KUCHERAN, DAN, Kapuskasing, Ontario
LAC SEUL ANISHNABEG (INDIAN BAND), Chief Percy Ningewance
and Band Council, Lac Seul , Ontario
LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY, C.A. Benson, Association Professor,
Thunder Bay, Ontario
LAKE NIPIGON METIS ASSOCIATION, P. McGuire Sr. , President,
Thunder Bay, Ontario
LES INDUSTRIES NORDEX, Jean Piche , Hearst, Ontario
LINDBERGH'S HUNTING & FISHING AIR SERVICE LIMITED,
Lloyd Rogerson, Cochrane, Ontario
LOVE, Cobie M.
MAMAKWA, Sarah, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
MARTIN FALLS INDIAN RESERVE, T. Moonias, Ogoki Post, Ontario
MARTIN, J. David, Ph.D., Thunder Bay, Ontario
MATTICE-VAL COTE, CORPORATION OF THE UNION OF TOWNSHIPS OF EILBER
AND DEVITT, Reeve, Paul Zorzetto
Appendix 9
5 -
McKAY, SIMEON, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
McKENZIE FOREST PRODUCTS INC., Hudson, Ontario
McLennan, E.T., Thunder Bay, Ontario
McMillan, Brian and PEERLA, David, Thunder Bay, Ontario
MEEKIS, Beatrice Ann, Deer Lake, Ontario
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
MEEKIS
Bertha, Deer Lake, Ontario
Frank, Deer Lake, Ontario
Harri, Deer Lake, Ontario
Ian, Deer Lake, Ontario
Isaac, Deer Lake, Ontario
Jeannette, Deer Lake, Ontario
Kenina, Deer Lake, Ontario
Larry, Deer Lake, Ontario
Paul, Deer Lake, Ontario
Pieut, Deer Lake, Ontario
Sarah, Deer Lake, Ontario
Stewart Matthew, Deer Lake, Ontario
William, Deer Lake, Ontario
MOOSONEE METIS & NON STATUS INDIAN ASSOCIATION, Earl Danyluk,
Project Co-ordinator, Moosonee, Ontario
MOOSONEE/MOOSE FACTORY TOURIST ASSOCIATION, CM. Hennessy,
Chairman, Moosonee, Ontario
MORRIS, Martine, Kasabonika, Ontario
MOUSSEAU, Dennis, Savant Lake, Ontario
MUNN, Eric, Kirkland Lake, Ontario
MUN-SO-KAHN METIS ASSOCIATION, Brad Cockroft, Eugene Lafrancois,
Thunder Bay, Ontario
MUSKRAT DAM BAND, Muskrat Dam, Ontario
NADEAU, G.E., Timmins , Ontario
NAKINA, TOWNSHIP OF, Raymonde Mercier, Deputy Reeve, Nakina,
Ontario
NEW POST BAND //69, Chief Peter Archibald, Cochrane, Ontario
NISHNAWBE-ASKI NATION, Central Region Project Development Area,
Chief Harvey Yesno, Fort Hope, Ontario
NORTH CARIBOU LAKE BAND, Chief J.J. Quequish, Weagaraow Lake,
Ontario
NORTHERN COLLEGE OF APPLIED ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY, J.H. Drysdale,
President, South Porcupine
NORTHERN ONTARIO TOURIST OUTFITTERS ASSOCIATION, Roger Liddle,
Executive Director, North Bay, Ontario
NORTH SHORE CITIZEN'S COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE FOREST MANAGEMENT,
Gordon Whiteley, Pass Lake, Ontario
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DECADE COUNCIL,
Economic Development Sub-Committee, Thunder Bay, Ontario
ONTARIO ENERGY CORPORATION, K.W. Brush, Manager, Energy Resources,
Toronto, Ontario
ONTARIO FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, J.D. Coats,
Executive Vice President, Willowdale, Ontario
ONTARIO HYDRO, J.E. Wilson, Manager, Public Hearings,
Toronto, Ont.
ONTARIO LUMBER MANUFACTURER'S ASSOCIATION, Rene Fontaine,
President, Toronto, Ontario
ONTARIO METIS ASSOCIATION, Wil Hedican, Toronto, Ontario
ONTARIO METIS ASSOCIATION, Zone III, Bart Verruyt, Director,
Hearst, Ontario
ONTARIO MINING ASSOCIATION, Bruce Campbell, Assistant to the
Executive Director, Toronto, Ontario
Appendix 9
6 -
ONTARIO MINING ASSOCIATION, J.M. Hughes, Toronto, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FOOD, Honourable D.R. Timbrell
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FOOD, Duncan Allan,
Deputy Minister ONTARIO MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP & CULTURE, M.F.
Carim, Economic Development Consultant, Native Community Branch
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY & SOCIAL SERVICES, M.J. MacMillan,
Co-ordinator for Children's Services, Moosonee, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ENERGY, Honourable Keith C. Norton
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ENERGY, Honourable Robert Welch
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF HEALTH, G.W. Scott, Q.C., Deputy Minister,
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY & TRADE, Bernard Ostry,
Deputy Minister
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF LABOUR, T.E. Armstrong, Deputy Minister
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF LABOUR, P.V. Kivisto, P.Eng., Area Mining
Engineer, Occupational Health & Safety Branch Division, Mining
Health & Safety Branch, Timmins, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Honourable Alan Pope
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, C.E. Emglin,
District Manager, Hearst, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF NORTHERN AFFAIRS, Mel Mousseau,
Northern Affairs Officer, Hearst, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF TOURISM & RECREATION, Peter R. Spik,
Tourism Industry Consultant, Timmins, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATIONS,
Honourable James Snow
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATIONS,
H.F. Gilbert, Deputy Minister
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATIONS, B.D.
Roberts, Sr Environmental Planner (for D.E. Monkhouse,
Head, Planning & Design) North Bay, Ontario
OSKINEEGISH, Charlie, Kasabonika, Ontario
PAMOUR PORCUPINE MINES LIMITED, A. Schwartz, P.Eng.,
Timmins, Ontario PARKS FOR TOMORROW, W.D. Addison,
Kakabeka Falls, Ontario
PAROHL, Charles, Red Rock, Ontario
PAULUCCI, Jeno F. , Robert E. Heller on behalf of
Duluth, Minnesota
PEHTABUN CHIEFS TRIBAL COUNCIL, Josias Fiddler,
Sandy Lake, Ontario
PIONEER CLUB, Ginger Ball, Geraldton, Ontario
POLAR GAS PROJECT, K.G. Taylor, Supervisior,
Environmental Programs, Toronto, Ontario
POPULAR MOVEMENT FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE RIVER ALBANY,
R. Moonias, Ogoki Post, Ontario
PROSPECTORS & DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION, Toronto, Ontario
QUILL, Larry, Deer Lake, Ontario
RANDA, Ty, Cochrane, Ontario
RED LAKE DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Box Axf ord ,
Red Lake, Ontario
RED LAKE DISTRICT MEN'S AOTS CLUB, Jack McEwen, Red Lake, Ontario
RED LAKE INDIAN FRIENDSHIP CENTRE,
Ross Mamakeesic, Red Lake, Ontario RED LAKE LOGGING CONTRACTORS,
Floyd Drager, Red Lake, Ontario
ROCKY BAY INDIAN RESERVE #1, Chief Mike Hardy Sr.,
MacDiarmid, Ont.
SACHIGO LAKE BAND, Sachigo Lake, Ontario
Appendix 9
7 -
SAVANT LAKE NATIVE COMMUNITY, Edward Machimity,
Savant Lake, Ontario
SAVANT STURGEON TOURIST OUTFITTERS ASSOCIATION,
Dennis Mousseau, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
SAWANAS, Ananios, Deer Lake, Ontario
SAWANAS, Helen, Deer Lake, Ontario
SAWANAS, Matt, Deer Lake, Ontario
SCHAEDEL, Hans, Madsen, Ontario
SEMPLE, Douglas, Wunnurain Lake, Ontario
SEMPLE, Harry, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
SEWELL, J.L. & D.St. A., Timmins , Ontario
SIOUX LOOKOUT, CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF,
Mayor John Parry, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
SIOUX LOOKOUT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Arnold Beebe, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
SIOUX LOOKOUT, HUDSON TOURIST OUTFITTERS ASSOCIATION,
R. E. Fahlraan, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
SIOUX LOOKOUT TRAPPERS COUNCIL, W. Wingenroth,
B. Smith, 1. Marshall, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
SITCH, Bert, Kakabeka Falls, Ontario
SLOAN, Brad, Timmins, Ontario
SPOONER MIGNACCO MACLEOD LIMITED, J.W. Spooner, Timmins, Ontario
SPRUCE FALLS POWER & PAPER CO. LTD., F.A. Campling, President
SUMMER BEAVER SETTLEMENT COUNCIL, Summer Beaver, Ontario
THE CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION, V.R. Denholra, Manager,
Ontario Division, Toronto, Ontario
THE CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF ONTARIO,
A.M. Timms, Executive Director, Toronto, Ontario
THE MORSON OPTION, J.E. McDougall, Secretary, Morson, Ontario
THOMPSON, W.M., Sioux Lookout, Ontario
THUNDER BAY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, P.R. Charbonneau,
General Manager, Thunder Bay, Ontario
TIMMINS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, W.C. Schure, Chairman,
Resources Committee, Timmins, Ontario
TIMMINS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, R.D. Lindsay, Resources Committee,
Timmins, Ontario
TIMMINS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, Kees J. Stryland, Timmins, Ontario
TIMPSON, Joyce, M.S.W., Sioux Lookout, Ontario
TITZE, Ron, Dryden, Ontario
TRAPPER, Bert, Moosonee, Ontario
TRI-MUNICIPAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE,
M.J. Doty, Economic Development Commissioner, Kenora, Ontario
UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, D.W. Hoffman, for the Faculty of
Environmental Studies and the School of Urban and
Regional Planning Waterloo, Ontario
USHER, Anthony & MICHALSKI, Michael, Rexdale, Ontario
WESLEY, N.F., Moose Factory, Ontario
WEST, W., Moose Factory, Ontario
WILDLANDS LEAGUE, Arlin Hackman, Executive Director,
Toronto, Ontario WINTER, Jacob, Kasabonika Lake, Ontario
YULE FAMILY, Thunder Bay, Ontario
ZUDEL, M., Timmins, Ontario
EXHIBITS TO J.E.J. FAHLGREN
ARMSTRONG METIS ASSOCIATION,
Hector C. King, President, Armstrong, Ontario
Appendix 9
- 8
ATTAWAPISKAT BAND,
Chief Reg. Louttit, Attawapiskat, Ontario
COCHRANE TOURIST OUTFITTERS ASSOCIATION,
Lloyd Rogerson, Cochrane, Ontario
DEER LAKE BAND,
Chief Douglas Meekis, Deer Lake, Ontario
DEER LAKE BAND,
Morley Meekis, Deer Lake, Ontario
DRYDEN TOWN COUNCIL,
Mayor T.S. Jones, Dryden, Ontario
FORT SEVERN BAND COUNCIL,
Fort Severn, Ontario
GRAND COUNCIL TREATY //9 ,
Grand Chief Wally McKay, Timmins , Ontario
GRANHOLM,
Victor, Editor "NORACT", Hearst, Ontario
IROQUOIS FALLS,
Town of, Mayor Lawrence Cutten, Iroquois Falls, Ontario
JAMES BAY TRIBAL COUNCIL,
Fred Wesley, Moose Factory, Ontario
KUCHERAN, Dan,
Kapuskasing, Ontario
LAC SEUL ANISHNABEG (INDIAN BAND),
Chief Percy Ningewance , Lac Seul, Ontario
LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY,
Dr. R. Rosehart, Dean of University Schools,
Thunder Bay, Ontario
LAKE NIPIGON METIS ASSOCIATION,
Patrick McGuire Sr., Thunder Bay, Ontario
LA ROSE, Pauline,
Iroquois Falls, Ontario
MOOSE FACTORY BAND,
Moose Factory, Ontario
MOOSONEE METIS & NON STATUS INDIAN ASSOCIATION,
Earl Danyluk, Moosonee, Ontario
MUN-SO-KAHN METIS ASSOCIATION,
Eugene Lafrancois, Thunder Bay, Ontario
ONTARIO METIS ASSOCIATION,
Toronto, Ontario
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT,
Honourable K.C. Norton, Q.C. and
G.J.M. Raymond, Deputy Minister
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT,
D.E. Redgrave, Assistant Deputy Minister
PAGWA METIS ASSOCIATION,
Bart Verruyt , Hearst, Ontario
RED LAKE DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
P.J. Sayeau and D'arcy Halligan, Red Lake, Ontario
SAVANT LAKE NATIVE COMMUNITY,
Edward Machimity, Savant Lake, Ontario
SIOUX LOOKOUT TRAPPERS COUNCIL,
Ian Marshall, President and Wilfred Wingenroth
SUMMER BEAVER SETTLEMENT COUNCIL,
Summer Beaver, Ontario
WINISK FORMER CHIEFS,
Louis Bird, Winisk, Ontario
Appendix 9
- 1 -
PUBLISHED REPORTS
PRODUCED BY THE COMMISSION
Interim Report & Recommendations , Mr. Justice E.P. Hartt,
April 4, 1978
Issues Report , Royal Commission on the Northern Environment,
December 1978
The Road to Detour Lake
- An Example of the Environmental Assessment Process in
Ontario . 1982
The Onakawana Project:
An Example of the Environmental Assessment Process in
Ontario , 1983
North of 50° - An Atlas of Far Northern Ontario , 1985
PRODUCED FOR THE COMMISSION
The Economic Future of the Forest Products Industry in
Northern Ontario , Lakehead University, Principle Authors F.J.
Anderson, N.C. Bonsor, Department of Economics.
The Future of Mineral Development in the Province of Ontario
North of 50 , Laurentian University
The Northern Economy: Benefits, Problems and Prospects ,
Paul Driben, Ph.D.
Tourism Development in Ontario North of 50° , W.M. Baker
Vol. 1 -
Vol. 2 -
Vol. 3 -
Vol. 4 -
Issues and Policy Options"
Tourist Facility Development"
The Transportation Supply Foundations"
The Heritage Resource Supply Foundation"
Vol. 5 - "The Climate Supply Foundations"
Klashke River Native Development Inc. , John H. Blair, R.P.F.
Inc.
The People North of 50°: In Quest of Understanding ,
J. A. Kleinfeider and A. Yesno, Albany Research Associates,
Inc.
FUNDED BY THE COMMISSION
Appropriate Water & Sanitation Technologies for Indian
Communities in Northern Ontario , Moni Campbell, Pollution
Probe
Project "Wetamakawin" (To Inform) , James Bay Cree Society,
Moose Factory
Appendix 10
- 2 -
Past Mistakes of Government and Local Opportunities , Bert
Trapper
Unions North of 50° , Thunder Bay & District Labour Council
Northern Development - An Overview of Social Consequences
with Special Reference to Alcohol Problems , Northern
Development
Research Group
Supplementary Brief to the Royal Commission on the Northern
Environment , Corporation of the Town of Sioux Lookout
Open Communication - Public Awareness Report , Moose Band
Council ,
Moose Factory
Summary of Discussions and Recommendations to the Winisk Band
Council Winisk Band Council Advisory Board
Submission by the Red Lake Inter-Agency Co-ordinating
Committee
An Alternative Energy Option for Northern Ontario , Energy
Probe
The Forestry, Pulp, Paper and Allied Industries
Characteristics and Developments , Canadian Paperworkers
Union
Pesticide Use in Northern Ontario and Recommendations for
Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process ,
Temiskaraing Environmental Action Group
A Selected Overview of Ontario's Public Decisional Framework
of Northern Primary Resource Development , Northern
Development Research Group
Making Your Case at the Environmental Assessment Board , D.
Paul Emond and Andrew J. Roman
The Legal and Administrative Basis of Land Use and
Environmental Decision-Making North of Latitude 50° — A
Guidebook and Selected Observations , Canadian Environmental
Law Research Foundation
A Feasibility Study for Methanol Production in Northern
Ontario, Brian Marshall, Ralph Torrie
Trappers and the Forest Industry: The Case of Northwestern
Ontario, Waterloo Research Institute
Nuclear Waste and the North, Terry Graves
Appendix 10
- s
Planning for Environmentally Sensitive Areas in No rthwestern
Ontario , Bruce Ralph ^ — —
Rapport Present a la Commission Royale sur 1 'environment du
Nord, Association des Francophones du Nor-ouest de I'Ontario
Public Po licy Towards the Arts in Northern Ontario . Thunder
Bay National Exhibition Centre
Life Above and Below the 50th Parallel . Mike Zudel
The Wunnusku Sepee People: An Historical Survey . James
Morrison for the Webequie Settlement Council
Acid Rain in Ontario: Another Threat to Native Land Use in
Treaties Three. Nine and Five . Gregory Thompson, Pollution
Probe
Small Scale Mining in Ontario . Northwestern Ontario
Prospectors Association
Isolated Northern Ontario Passenger Rail . Transport 2000
"There's Lots of Ways to Skin a Cat", The Potential
Contribution of Appropriate Technology to Economic
Self-Sufficiency North of 50 . S.F. Hunnisett, P.Eng.
Conservation Council Submission
Appendix 10
R.C.N.E. PUBLICATIONS DEPOSITORIES
BALMERTOWN
DRYUEN
EAR FALLS
GERALDTON
HAMILTON
HEARST
IGNACE
KENORA
KINGSTON
KIRKLAND LAKE
KITCHENER
LONDON
MOOSONEE
NAKINA
OTTAWA
PETERBOROUGH
PICKLE LAKE
RED LAKE
ST. CATHARINES
SAULT STE. MARIE
SIOUX LOOKOUT
SUDBURY
THUNDER BAY
TIMMINS
TORONTO
WINDSOR
Balraertown Public Library, Dexter Road
Dryden Public Library, 3b Van Home Avenue
Ear Falls Public Library, 50 Balsam Avenue
Geraldcon Public Library, 405 2nd Street West
Hamilton Public Library, Government Documents
Division, 55 York Blvd.
Hearst Public Library, Box 7000
Public Library, 304 McLeod Street
Kenora Public Library, 24 Main Street South
Kingston Public Library, 130 Johnson Street
Northeastern Regional Library System,
6 Al Wende Avenue
Kitchener Public Library, 85 Queen Street North
London Public Library, 305 Queen's Avenue
Moosonee Community Library,
James Bay Educational Centre
Nakina Public Library, Quebec Street
Ottawa Public Library, Reference Dept.,
120 Metcalfe Street
National Library of Canada, Government
Documents, Canadian Acquisitions Division,
395 Wellington Street
Peterborough Public Library,
510 George Street N.
Pickle-Pat Public Library
Red Lake Public Library, 212 Howey Street
St. Catharines Public Library, Reference/
Government Documents, 54 Church Street
Sault Ste. Marie Public Library, 50 East Street
Sarah Vaughan Public Library, 5th Avenue North
Sudbury Public Library,
Civic Square West Tower,
200 Brady Street
Thunder Bay Public Library, 216 Brodie Street
Thunder Bay Public Library,
Reference Department,
285 Red River Road
Ojibway-Cree Cultural Centre, 71 Third Avenue
Legislative Library, Technical Services and
Systems, 180 Bloor St. West, 5th Floor
Metropolitan Toronto Public Library,
Social Sciences Department,
789 Yonge Street
Canadian Association in Support
of Native Peoples, 16 Spadina Road
York University Government Documents
& Microtexts, Administrative Studies
Building, Room 113, 4700 Keele Street
Serials Department, University of Toronto,
Library
Windsor Public Library, 850 Ouellette Avenue
Appendix 11
STAFF MEMBERS OF
THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
During the period 197 7 to 1985 the following individuals were employed
as full time staff members or as legal counsel for six months or more:
Lesley Andersen
Jamie-Lynn Armstrong
Kathi Avery
Mildred Barrett
William Batey
Ola Berg
Marlene Brushett
Ruth Burkholder
Ronald Christiansen
Lome Clark
Faye Clement
Betty Cole
Donna Cooney
Roger Cotton
Marc Couse
Peter Cridland
Mary Currie
A. Elizabeth Daley
Rick Dedi
Harriet DeKoven
Jon Del Ben
Dora Dunbar
William Ferrier
Dennis Flaherty
Ian Fraser
Karen Gaynor
Nancy Gelber
Moira Gibbison
Cecilia Gordon
Gaetanne Gladu
Bernadette Hardaker
Stephen Harvey
Judith Hay
Mary Ellen Hill
Francis Kelly
Harriet Kideckel
Joyce Kleinfelder
Tom Lambert
John Laskin
Donna Laurila
Gerald LeSauvage
Kari Lie
Stephen Lindley
Barbara Lynch
William Mamakeesic
Richard MacFarlane
Robert MacGregor
George MacLeod
Bella Marshall
Linda McClenaghan
John McConnell
Arthur Menhart
John Metcalfe
Greg Mignon
Lynne Mitchell
Greg Morley
Tichafa Mundangepfupfu
Ruth Murray
Debbie Neamtu
Janice Nelson
Carol Niven
Margaret Parr
Linda Penner
Elizabeth Peters
Catherine Potter
Donna Power
Robert Richards
Nigel Richardson
Stephen Rimmer
Linda Rogachevsky
Lisa Scerba
Eric Stine
George Taggert
Margaret Tanaszi
Shirley Townsend
Samuel Warren
Gaylord Watkins
Roberta Watt-Riddell
Diane Welin
Sylvia Wilson
Joyce Young
Appendix 12
North West Angle Treaty, //3
Lake Winnipeg Treaty, //5
The James Bay Treaty, Treaty //9
Appendix 13
- 1
THE NORTH-WEST ANGLE TREATY, NUMBER THREE^
ARTICLES OF A TREATY made and concluded this third day of October,
in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three, between Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of
Great Britain and Ireland, by her Commissioners, the Hon.
Alexander Morris, Lieutenant- Governor of the Province of Manitoba
and the North-West Territories; Joseph Albert Norbert Provencher,
and Simon James Dawson, of the one part; and the Saulteaux tribe
of the Ojibbeway Indians, inhabitants of the country within the
limits hereinafter defined and described, by their Chiefs chosen
and named as hereinafter mentioned, of the other part:
Whereas the Indians inhabiting the said country have,
pursuant to an appointment made by the said Commissioners, been
convened at a meeting at the North-West angle of the Lake of the
Woods, to deliberate upon certain matters of interest to Her Most
Gracious Majesty, of the one part, and the said Indians of the
other;
And whereas the said Indians have been notified and informed
by Her Majesty's said Commissioners, that it is the desire of Her
Majesty to open up for settlement, immigration, and such other
purposes as to Her Majesty may seem meet, a tract of country
bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the
consent thereto of her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract,
and to make a treaty and arrange with them, so that there may be
peace and good will between them and Her Majesty, and that they
may know and be assured of what allowance they are to count upon
and receive from Her Majesty's bounty and benevolence:
And whereas, the Indians of the said tract, duly convened in
Council, as aforesaid, and being requested by Her Majesty's said
Commissioners to name certain Chiefs and head men, who should be
authorized on their behalf to conduct such negotiations, and sign
any treaty to be founded theron, and to become responsible to Her
Majesty for the faithful performance by their respective bands of
such obligations as shall be assumed by them, the said Indians
have thereupon named the following persons for that purpose, that
is to say: — Kee-tak-pay-pi-nais (Rainy River), Kitihi-gay-lake
(Rainy River), Not e-na-qua-hung (North-West Angle),
Mawe-do-pe-nais (Rainy River), Pow-wa-sang (North-West Angle),
Canda-cora-igo-wi-ninie (North-West Angle), Pa-pa-ska-gin (Rainy
River), May-no-wah- tau-way s-kung (North- West Angle),
Kitchi-ne-ka-be-han (Rainy River), Sah-katch-eway (Lake Seul),
Muka-day-wah-sin (Kettle Falls), Me-kie-sies (Rainy Lake, Fort
Francis), Oos-con-na-geist (Rainy Lake), Wah-shis-kince (Eagle
Lake), Rah-kie-y-ash (Flower Lake), Go-bay (Rainy Lake),
Ka-me-ti-ash (White Fish Lake), Nee-sho-tal (Rainy River),
Kee-gee-go-kay (Rainy River), Sha-sha-gance (Shoal Lake),
Shah-win-na-bi-nais (Shoal Lake), Ay-ash-a-wash (Buffalo Point),
Pay-ah-be-wash (White Fish Bay), Rah-tay-tay-pa- o-cutch (Lake of
the Woods).
^ Morris, the Hon. Alexander, The Treaties of Canada with the
Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories : Coles, 1971,
pp. 320-329.
Appendix 13
2 -
And thereupon in open council the different bands having
presented their Chiefs to the said Commissioners as the Chiefs and
head men for the purposes aforesaid of the respective bands of
Indians inhabiting the said district hereinafter described;
And whereas the said Commissioners then and there received
and acknowledged the persons so presented as Chiefs and head men
for the purposes aforesaid of the respective bands of Indians
inhabiting the said district hereinafter described;
And whereas the said Commissioners have proceeded to
negotiate a treaty with the said Indians, and the same has been
finally agreed upoa and concluded as follows, that is to say:
The Saulteaux tribe of the Ojibbeway Indians, and all the
other Indians inhabiting the district hereinafter described and
defined, do hereby cede, release, surrender, and yield up to the
Government of the Dominion of Canada, for Her Majesty the Queen
and her successors forever, all their rights, titles and
privileges whatsoever to the lands included within the following
limits, that is to say:
Commencing at a point on the Pigeon River route where the
international boundary line between the territories of Great
Britain and the United States intersects the height of land
separating the waters running to Lake Superior from those flowing
to Lake Winnipeg, then northerly, westerly and easterly, along the
height of land aforesaid, following its sinousities, whatever
their course may be, to the point at which the said height of land
meets the summit of the water-shed from which the steams flow to
Lake Nepigon, thence northerly and westerly, or whatever, may be
its course along the ridge separting the waters of the Nepigon and
the Winnipeg to the height of land dividing the waters of the
Albany and the Winnipeg, thence westerly and north-westerly along
the height of land dividing the waters flowing to Hundson's Bay by
the Albany or other rivers from those running to English River and
the Winnipeg to a point on the said height of land bearing north
forty-five degrees east from Fort Alexander at the mouth of the
Winnipeg; thence south forty-five degrees west to Fort Alexander
at the mouth of the Winnipeg; thence southerly along the eastern
bank of the Winnipeg to the mouth of White Mouth River; thence
southerly by the line described as in that part forming the
eastern boundary of the tract surrendered by the Chippewa and
Swampy Cree tribes of Indians to Her Majesty on the third of
August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, namely, by the
White Mouth River to White Mouth Lake and thence on a line having
a general bearing of White Mouth River to the forty-ninth parallel
of north latitude; thence by the forty-ninth parallel of north
latitude to the Lake of the Woods, and from thence by the
iaternational boundary line to the place of beginning.
The tract comprised within the lines above described
embracing an area of fifty-five thousand square miles, be the same
more or less.
To have and to hold the same to Her Majesty the Queen and her
successors forever.
Appendix 13
- 2
And Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees and undertakes to lay
aside reserves for farming lands, due respect being had to lands
at present cultivated by the said Indians, and also to lay aside
and reserve for the benefit of the said Indians, to be
administered and dealt with for them by Her Majesty's Government
of the Dominion of Canada, in such a manner as shall seem best,
other reserves of land in the said territory hereby ceded, which
said reserves shall be selected and set aside where it shall be
deemed most convenient and advantageous for each band or bands of
Indians, by the officers of the said Government appointed for that
purpose, and such selection shall be so made after conference with
the Indians: Provided, however, that such reserve whether for
farming or other purposes shall in nowise exceed in all one square
mile for each family of five, or in that proportion for larger or
smaller families, and such selection shall be made if possible
during the course of next summer or as soon thereafter as may be
found practicable, it being understood, however, that if at the
time of any such selection of any reserves as aforesaid, there are
any settlers within the bounds of the lands reserved by any band.
Her Majesty reserves the right to deal with such settlers as she
shall deem just, so as not to diminish the extent of land allotted
to Indians; and provided also that the aforesaid reserves of lands
or any interest or right therein or appurtenant thereto, may be
sold, leased or otherwise disposed by the said Government for the
use and benefit of the said Indians, with the consent of the
Indians entitled thereto first had and obtained.
And with a view to show the satisfaction of Her Majesty with
the behavior and good conduct of her Indians, she hereby, through
her Commissioners, makes them a present of twelve dollars for each
man, woman and child belonging to the bands here represented, in
extinguishment of all claims heretofore preferred.
And further. Her Majesty agrees to maintain schools for
instruction in such reserves hereby made as to her Government of
her Dominion of Canada may seem advisable, whenever the Indians of
the reserve shall desire it.
Her Majesty further agrees with her said Indians, that within
the boundary of Indian reserves, until otherwise determined by the
Government of the Dominion of Canada, no intoxicating liquor shall
be allowed to be introduced or sold, and all laws now in force, or
hereafter to be enacted to preserve her Indian subjects inhabiting
the reserves, or living elsewhere within her North-West
Territories, from the evil influence of the use of intoxicating
liquors shall be strictly enforced.
Her Majesty further agrees with her said Indians, that they,
the said Indians, shall have right to pursue their avocations of
hunting and fishing throughout the tract surrendered as
hereinbefore described, subject to such regulations as may from
time to time be made by her Government of her Dominion of Canada,
and saving and excepting such tracts as may from time to time be
required to taken up for settlement, mining, lumbering or other
purposes, by her said Government of the Dominion of Canada, or by
any of the subjects thereof duly authorized therefor by the said
Government .
Appendix 13
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and her said Indians
that such sections of the reserves above indicated as may at any
time be required for public works or buildings, of what nature
soever, may be appropriated for that purpose by Her Majesty's
Government of the Dominion of Canada, due compensation being made
for the value of any improvements thereon.
And further, that Her Majesty's Commissioners shall, as soon
as possible, after the execution of this treaty, cause to be taken
an accurate census of all the Indians inhabiting the tract above
described, distributing them in families, and shall in every year
ensuing the date hereof at some period in each year, to be duly
notified to the Indians, and at a place or places to be appointed
for that purpose within the territory ceded, pay to each Indian
person the sum of five dollars per head yearly.
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and the said
Indians, that the sum of fifteen hundred dollars per annum shall
be yearly and every year expended by Her Majesty in the purchase
of ammunition, and twine for nets for the use of the said
Indians.
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and the said
Indians, that the following articles shall be supplied to any band
of the said Indians who are now actually cultivating the soil, or
who shall hereafter commence to cultivate the land, that is to
say — two hoes for every family actually cultivating; also one
spade per family as aforesaid, one plough for every ten families
as aforesaid; five harrows for every twenty families as aforesaid;
one scythe for every family as aforesaid; and also one axe and one
cross-cut saw, one hand saw, one pit saw, the necessary files, one
grindstone, one auger for each band, and also for each Chief for
the use of his band one chest of ordinary carpenter's tools; also
for each band, enough wheat, barley, potatoes and oats to plant
the land actually broken up for cultivation by such band; also for
each band, one yoke of oxen, one bull and four cows; all the
aforesaid articles to be given once for all the encouragement of
the practice of agriculture among the Indians.
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and the said
Indians, that each Chief, duly recognized as such, shall receive
an annual salary of twenty-five dollars per annum, and each
subordinate officer, not exceeding three for each band, shall
receive fifteen dollars per annum; and each such Chief and
subordinate officer as aforesaid shall also receive, once in every
three years, a suitable suit of clothing; and each Chief shall
receive, in recognition of the closing of the treaty, a suitable
flag and raedal.
And the undersigned Chiefs, on their own behalf and on behalf
of ail other Indians inhabiting the tract within ceded, do hereby
solemnly promise and engage to strictly observe this treaty, and
also to conduct and behave themselves as good and loyal subjects
of Her Majesty the Queen. They promise and engage that they will,
in all respects obey and abide by the law; that they will maintain
Appendix 13
peace and good order between each other, and also between
themselves and other tribes of Indians, and between themselves and
others of Her Majesty's subjects, whether Indians or whites, now
inhabiting or hereafter to inhabit any party of the said ceded
tract; and that they will not molest the person or property of any
inhabitant of such ceded tract, or the property of Her Majesty the
Queen, or interfere with or trouble any person passing or
travelling through the said tract or any part thereof; and that
they will aid and assist the officers of Her Majesty in bringing
to justice and punishment any Indian offending against the
stipulations of this treaty, or infringing the laws in force in
the country so ceded.
In witness whereof, Her Majesty's said Commissioners and the
said Indian Chiefs have hereunto subscribed and set their hands,
at the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, this day and
year herein first above-named.
Adhesion of Lac Seul Indians, Lac Seul , 9th June, 1874
We, the Chiefs and Councillors of Lac Seul, Seul Trout and
Sturgeon Lakes, subscribe and set our marks, that we and our
followers will abide by the articles of the treaty made and
concluded with the Indians at the north-west angle of the Lake of
the Woods, on the third day of October, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, between Her Most
Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, by Her
Commissioners, Hon. Alexander Morris, Lieutenant-Governor of
Manitoba and the North-West Territories, Joseph Albert, N.
Provencher and Simon J. Dawson, of the one part, and the Saulteaux
tribes of Ojebewas Indians, inhabitants of the country as defined
by the Treaty aforesaid.
In witness whereof. Her Majesty's Indian Agent and the Chiefs
and Councillors have hereto set their hands at Lac Seul, on the
9th day of June, 1894.
Appendix 13
6 -
THE LAKE WINNIPEG TREATY, NUMBER FlVfil
ARTICLES OF A TREATY made and concluded at Berens River the
twentieth day of September, and at Norway House the twenty-fourth
day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five, between Her Most Gracious Majesty the
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, by her Commissioners, the
Honorable Alexander Morris, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of
Manitoba and the North-West Territories, and the Honorable James
McKay, of the one part, and the Saulteaux and Swampy Cree Tribes
of Indians, inhabitants of the country within the limits
hereinafter defined and described by their Chiefs, chosen and
named as hereinafter mentioned, of the other part:
Whereas the Indians inhabiting the said country have,
pursuant to an appointment made by the said Commissioners, been
convened at meetings at Berens River and Norway House, to
deliberate upon certain matters of interest to Her Most Gracious
Majesty, of the one part, and the said Indians of the other;
And whereas the said Indians have been notified and informed
by Her Majesty's said Commissioners, that it is the desire of Her
Majesty to open up for settlement, immigration, and such other
purposes as to Her Majesty may seem meet, a tract of country
bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the
consent thereto of her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract,
and to make a treaty and arrange with them, so that there may be
peace and good will between them and Her Majesty, and that they
may know and be assured of what allowance they are to count upon
and receive from Her Majesty's bounty and benevolence;
And whereas, the Indians of the said tract, duly convened in
council as aforesaid, and being requested by Her Majesty's said
Commissioners to name certain Chiefs and head men, who should be
authorized on their behalf to conduct such negotiations and sign
any treaty to be founded thereon, and to become responsible to Her
Majesty for the faithful performance by their respective bands of
such obligations as shall be assumed by them, the said Indians
have thereupon named the following persons for that purpose, that
is to say: — For the Indians within the Berens River region and
their several bands:
Nah-wee-kee-sick-quah-yash, Chief; Kah-nah-wah-kee-wee-nin
and Nah-kee-quan-nay-yash, Councillors, and Pee-wah-noo-wee-nin,
of Poplar River, Councillor; for the Indians within the Norway
House region and their several bands, David Rundle, Chief; James
Cochrane, Harry Constatag and Charles Pisequinip, Councillors; and
Ta-pas-ta-nura, or Donald Williams Sinclair Ross, Chief; James
Garriock and Proud McKay, Councillors;
^ Morris, the Hon. Alexander, The Treaties of Canada with the
Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories ; Coles,
1971, pp 342-350.
Appendix 13
- 7
And thereupon in open council, the different bands having
presented their Chiefs to the said Commissioners as the Chiefs and
head men, for the purposes aforesaid, of the respective bands of
Indians inhabiting the said district hereinafter described;
And whereas, the said Commissioners then and there received
and acknowledged the persons so presented as Chiefs and head men,
for the purposes aforesaid, of the respective bands of Indians
inhabiting the said district hereinafter described;
And whereas, the said Commissioners have proceeded to
negotiate a treaty with the said Indians and the same has been
finally agreed upon and concluded as follows, that is to say:
The Saulteaux and Swampy Cree tribes of Indians and all other
Indians inhabiting the district hereinafter described and defined,
do hereby cede, release, surrender, and yield up to the Government
of the Dominion of Canada, for Her Majesty the Queen and her
successors forever, all their rights, titles and privileges
whatsoever to the lands included within the following limits, that
is to say:
Commencing at the north corner or junction of Treaties
Numbers One and Three, thence easterly along the boundary of
Treaty Number Three to the height of land at the north-east corner
of the said treaty limits, a point dividing the waters of the
Albany and Winnipeg Rivers, thence due north along the said height
of land to a point intersected by the 53° of north latitude and
thence north-westerly to Favourable Lake, thence following the
east shore of said lake to its northern limit, thence
north-westerly to the north end of Lake Winnipegosis , thence
westerly to the height of land called "Robinson's Portage," thence
north-westerly to the east end of Cross Lake, thence
north-westerly crossing Fox's Lake, thence north-westerly to the
north end of Split Lake, thence south-westerly to Pipestone Lake,
on Burntwood River, thence south-westerly to the western point of
John Scott's Lake, thence south-westerly to the north shore of
Beaver Lake, thence south-westerly to the west end of Cumberland
Lake, thence due south to the Saskatchewan River, thence due south
to the north-west corner of the northern limits of Treaty Number
Four, iacluding all territory within the said limits, and all
islands on all lakes within the said limits as above described,
and it being also understood that in all cases where lakes form
the treaty limits, ten miles from the shore of the lake should be
included in the treaty:
And also all their rights, titles and privileges whatsoever
to all other lands wherever situated in the North-West
Territories, or in any other Province or portion of Her Majesty's
Dominions situated and being within the Dominion of Canada:
The tract comprised within the lines above described
embracing an area of one hundred thousand square miles, be the
same, more or less;
To have and to hold the same to Her Majesty the Queen and her
successors forever.
Appendix 13
And Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees and undertakes to lay
aside reserves for farming lands, due respect being had to lands
at present cultivated by the said Indians, and other reserves for
the benefit of the said Indians to be administered and dealt with
for them by Her Majesty's Government of the Dominion of Canada;
provided all such reserves shall not exceed in all one hundred and
sixty acres for each family of five, or in that proportion for
larger or smaller families in manner following, that is to say: —
For the band of Saulteaux in the Berens River region now settled,
or who may within two years settle therein, a reserve commencing
at the outlet of Berens River into Lake Winnipeg, and extending
along the shores of said lake and up said river and into the
interior behind said lake and river, so as to comprehend one
hundred and sixty acres for each family of five, a reasonable
addition being, however, to be made by Her Majesty to the extent
and the said reserve for the inclusion in the tract so reserved of
swamps, but reserving the free navigation of the said lake and
river, and free access to the shores and waters thereof for Her
Majesty and all her subjects, and excepting thereout such land as
may have been granted to or stipulated to be held by the Hudson's
Bay Company, and also such land as Her Majesty or her successors
may in her good pleasure see fit to grant to the ' mission
established at or near Berens River by the Methodist Church of
Canada, for a church, school-house, parsonage, burial ground and
farm, or other mission purposes; and to the Indians residing at
Poplar River, falling into Lake Winnipeg north of Berens River, a
reserve not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to each family
of five, respecting as much as possible their present
improvements; and inasmuch as a number of the Indians now residing
in and about Norway House, of the band of whom David Rundle is
Chief, are desirous of removing to a locality where they can
cultivate the soil, Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees to lay
aside a reserve on the west side of Lake Winnipeg, in the vicinity
of Fisher River, so as to give one hundred acres to each family of
five, or in that proportion for larger or smaller families, who
shall remove to the said locality within "three-years," it being
estimated that ninety families or thereabout will remove within
the said period, and that a reserve will be laid aside sufficient
for that or the actual number; and it is further agreed that those
of the band who remain in the vicinity of "Norway House" shall
retain for their own use their present gardens, buildings and
improvements until the same be departed with by the Queen's
Government, with their consent first had and obtained for their
individual benefit, if any value can be realized therefor; and
with regard to the band of Wood Indians of whom Ta-pas-ta-num or
Donald William Sinclair Ross, is Chief, a reserve at Otter Island
on the west side of Cross Lake of one hundred and sixty acres for
each family of five, or in that proportion for smaller families,
reserving however to Her Majesty, her successors, and her
subjects, the free navigation of all lakes and rivers, and free
access to the shores thereof; provided, however, that Her Majesty
reserves the right to deal with any settlers within the bounds of
any lands reserved for any band as she shall deem fit, and also
that the aforesaid reserves of land, or any interest therein, may
be sold or otherwise disposed of by Her Majesty's Government for
Appendix 13
9 -
the use and benefit of the said Indians entitled thereto, with
their consent first had and obtained; and with a view to show the
satisfaction of Her Majesty with the behaviour and good conduct of
her Indians she hereby through her Commissioners makes them a
present of five dollars for each man, woman and child belonging to
the bands here represented, in extinguishment of all claims
heretofore preferred;
And further. Her Majesty agrees to maintain schools for
instruction in such reserves hereby made as to her Government of
the Dominion of Canada may seera advisable, whenever the Indians of
the reserve shall desire it;
Her Majesty further agrees with her said Indians, that within
the boundary of Indian reserves, until otherwise determined by her
Government of the Dominion of Canada, no intoxicating liquor shall
be allowed to be introduced or sold, and all laws now in force, or
hereafter to be enacted, to preserve her Indian subjects
inhabiting the reserves or living elsewhere within her North-West
Territories, from the evil influence of the use of intoxicating
liquors, shall be strictly enforced;
Her Majesty further agrees with her said Indians that they,
the said Indians, shall have right to pursue their avocations of
hunting and fishing throughout the tract surrendered as
hereinbefore described, subject to such regulations as may from
time to time be made by her Government of her Dominion of Canada,
and saving and excepting such tracts as may from time to time be
required or taken up for settlement, mining, lumbering or other
purposes by her said Government of the Dominion of Canada, or by
any of the subjects thereof duly authorized therefor by the said
Government ;
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and her said
Indians, that such sections of the reserves above indicated as may
at any time be required for public works or buildings, of what
nature soever, may be appropriated for that purpose by Her
Majesty's Government of the Dominion of Canada, due compensation
being made for the value of any improvement thereon;
And further, that Her Majesty's Commissioners shall, as soon
as possible after the execution of this treaty, cause to be taken
an accurate census of all the Indians inhabiting the tract above
described, distributing them in families, and shall in every year
ensuing the date thereof, at some period in each year, to be duly
notified to the Indians, and at a place or places to be appointed
for that purpose within the territory ceded, pay to each Indian
person the sum of five dollars per head yearly;
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and the said Indians
that the sum of five hundred dollars per annum shall be yearly and
every year expended by Her Majesty in the purchase of ammunition
and twine for nets for the use of the said Indians, in manner
following, that it to say: — In the reasonable discretion as
Appendix 13
10
regards the distribution thereof among the Indians inhabiting the
several reserves or otherwise included herein of Her Majesty's
Indian Agent having the supervision of this treaty;
It is further agreed between Her Majesty aiid the said Indians
that the following articles shall be supplied to any band of the
said Indians who are now cultivating the soil, or who shall
hereafter commence to cultivate the land, that is to say: — Two
hoes for every family actually cultivating; also one spade per
family as a foresaid; one plough for every ten families as
aforesaid; five harrows for every twenty families as aforesaid;
one scythe for every family as aforesaid, and also one axe; and
also one cross-cut saw, one hand saw, one pit saw, the necessary
files, one grindstone, and one auger for each band; and also for
each Chief for the use of his band, one chest of ordinary
carpenter's tools; also, for each band, enough of wheat, barley,
potatoes and oats to plant the land actually broken up for
cultivation by such band; also, for each band, one yoke of oxen,
one bull, and four cows: all the aforesaid articles to be given
once for all for the encouragement of the practice of agriculture
among the Indians.
It is further agreed between Her Majesty and the said
Indians, that each Chief, duly recognized as such, shall received
an annual salary of twenty-five dollars per annum, and each
subordinate officer, not exceeding three for each band, shall
receive fifteen dollars per annum; and each such Chief and
subordinate officer as aforesaid shall also receive, once every
three years, a suitable suit of clothing; and each Chief shall
receive, in recognition of the closing of the treaty, a suitable
flag and medal.
And the undersigned Chiefs, on their own behalf, and on
behalf of all other Indians inhabiting the tract within ceded, do
hereby solemnly promise and engage to strictly observe this
treaty, and also to conduct and behave themselves as good and
loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen. They promise and engage
that they will, in all respects, obey and abide by the law, and
they will maintain peace and good order between each other, and
also between themselves and other tribes of Indians, and between
themselves and others of Her Majesty's subjects, whether Indians
or whites, now inhabiting or hereafter to inhabit any part of the
said ceded tracts; and that they will not molest the person or
property of any inhabitant of such ceded tracts, or the property
of Her Majesty the Queen, or interfere with or trouble any person
passing or travelling through the said tracts or any part thereof;
and that they will aid and assist the officers of Her Majesty in
bringing to justice and punishment any Indian offending against
the stipulations of this treaty, or infringing the laws in force
in the country so ceded.
In witness whereof. Her Majesty's said Commissioners and the
said Indian Chiefs have hereunto subscribed and set their hands at
Berens River, this twentieth day of September, A.D. 1875, and at
Norway House, on the twenty-fourth day of the month and year
herein first above named.
Appendix 13
11
THE JAMES BAY TREATY, TREATY NO. 9^
ARTICLES OF A TREATY made and concluded at the several dates
mentioned therein, in the year of Our Lord one thousand and nine
hundred and five, between His Most Gracious Majesty the King of
Great Britain and Ireland, by His Commissioners, Duncan Campbell
Scott, of Ottawa, Ontario, Esquire, and Samuel Stewart, of Ottawa,
Esquire; and Daniel George MacMartin, of Perth, Ontario, Esquire,
representing the province of Ontario, of the one part; and the
Ojibeway, Cree and other Indians, inhabitants of the territory
within the limits hereinafter defined and described, by their
chiefs, and headmen hereunto subscribed, of the other part: —
Whereas, the Indians inhabiting the territory hereinafter
defined have been convened to meet a commission representing His
Majesty's government of the Dominion of Canada at certain places
in the said territory in this present year of 1905, to deliberate
upon certain matters of interest to His Most Gracious Majesty, of
the one part, and the said Indians of the other.
And, whereas, the said Indians have been notified and
informed by His Majesty's said commission that it is His desire to
open for settlement, immigration, trade, travel, raining,
lumbering, and such other purposes as to His Majesty may seem
meet, a tract of country, bounded and described as hereinafter
mentioned, and to obtain the consent thereto of His Indian
subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a treaty and
arrange with them, so that there may be peace and good-will
between them and His Majesty's other subjects, and that His Indian
people may know and be assured of what allowances they are to
count upon and receive from His Majesty's bounty and benevolence.
And whereas, the Indians of the said tract, duly convened in
council at the respective points named hereunder, and being
requested by His Majesty's Commissioners to name certain chiefs
and headmen who should be authorized on their behalf to conduct
such negotiations and sign any treaty to be found thereon, and to
become responsible to His Majesty for the faithful performance by
their respective bands of such obligations as shall be assumed by
them, the said Indians have therefore acknowledged for that
purpose the several chiefs and headmen who have subscribed
hereto.
And whereas, the said Commissioners have proceeded to
negotiate a treaty with the Ojibeway, Cree and other Indians,
inhabiting the district hereinafter defined and described, and the
same has been agreed upon, and concluded by the respective bands
at the dates mentioned hereunder, the said Indians do hereby cede,
release, surrender and yield up to the government of the Dominion
of Canada, for His Majesty the King and His successors for ever,
^ The James Bay Treaty //9 made in 1905 and 1906 and Adhesions made
in 1929 and 1930, Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1964, pp. -10-31.
Appendix 13
12
all their rights titles and privileges whatsoever, to the lands
included within the following limits, that is to say: That
portion or tract of land lying and being in the province of
Ontario, bounded on the south by the height of land and the
northern boundaries of the territory ceded by the
Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850, and the Robinson-Huron Treaty of
1850, and bounded on the east and north by the boundaries of the
said Province of Ontario as defined by law, and on the west by a
part of the eastern boundary of the territory ceded by the
North-West Angle Treaty No. 3; the said land containing an area of
ninety thousand square miles, more or less.
And also, the said Indian rights, titles and privileges
whatsoever to all other lands wherever situated in Ontario,
Quebec, Manitoba, the District of Keewatin, or in any other
portion of the Dominion of Canada.
To have and to hold the same to His Majesty the King and His
successors for ever.
And His Majesty the King hereby agrees with the said Indians
that they shall have the right to pursue their usual vocations of
hunting, trapping and fishing throughout the tract surrendered as
heretofore described, subject to such regulations as may from time
to time be made by the government of the country, acting under the
authority of His Majesty, and saving and excepting such tracts as
may be required or taken up from time to time for settlement,
mining, lumbering, trading or other purposes.
And His Majesty the King hereby agrees and undertakes to lay
aside reserves for each band, the same not to exceed in all one
square mile for each family of five, or in that proportion for
larger and smaller families; and the location of the said reserves
having been arranged between His Majesty's Commissioners and the
chiefs and headmen, as described in the schedule of reserves
hereto attached, the boundaries thereof to be hereafter surveyed
and defined, the said reserves when confirmed shall be held and
administered by His Majesty for the benefit of the Indians free of
all claims, liens, or trusts by Ontario.
Provided, however, that His Majesty reserves the right to
deal with any settlers within the bounds of any lands reserved for
any band as He may see fit; and also that the aforesaid reserves
of land, or any interest therein, may be sold or otherwise
disposed of by His Majesty's government for the use and benefit of
the said Indians entitled thereto, with their consent first had
and obtained; but in no wise shall the said Indians, or any of
them, be entitled to sell or otherwise alienate any of the lands
allotted to them as reserves.
It is further agreed between His said Majesty and His Indian
subjects that such portions of the reserves and lands above indi-
cated as may at any time be required for public works, buildings.
Appendix 13
- 13 -
railways, or roads of whatsoever nature may be appropriated for
that purpose by His Majesty's goveriiraent of the Dominion of
Canada, due compensation being made to the Indians for the value
of any improvements thereon, and an equivalent in land, money or
other consideration for the area of the reserve so appropriated.
And with a view to show the satisfaction of His Majesty with
the behaviour and good conduct of His Indians, and in
extinguishment of all their past claims. He hereby, through His
Commissioners, agrees to make each Indian a present of eight
dollars in cash.
His Majesty also agrees that next year, and annually
afterwards for ever, He will cause to be paid to the said Indians
in cash, at suitable places and dates, of which the said Indians
shall be duly notified, four dollars, the same, unless there be
some exceptional reason, to be paid only to the heads of families
for those belonging thereto.
Further, His Majesty agrees to pay such salaries of teachers
to instruct the children of said Indians, and also to provide such
school buildings and educational equipment as may seem advisable
to His Majesty's government of Canada.
And the undersigned Ojibeway, Cree and other chiefs and
headmen, on their own behalf and on behalf of all the Indians whom
they represent, do hereby solemnly promise and engage to strictly
observe this treaty, and also to conduct and behave themselves as
good and loyal subjects of His Majesty the King.
They promise and engage that they will, in all respects, obey
and abide by the law; that they will maintain peace between each
other and between themselves and other tribes of Indians, and
between themselves and others of His Majesty's subjects, whether
Indians, half-breeds or whites, this year inhabiting and hereafter
to inhabit any part of the said ceded territory; and that they
will not molest the person or property of any inhabitant of such
ceded tract, or of any other district or country, or interfere
with or trouble any person passing or travelling through the said
tract, or any part thereof, and that they will assist the officers
of His Majesty in bringing to justice and punishment any Indian
offending against the stipulations of this treaty, or infringing
the law in force in the country so ceded.
And it is further understood that this treaty is made and
entered into subject to an agreement dated the third day of July,
nineteen hundred and five, between the Dominion of Canada and
Province of Ontario, which is hereto attached.
In witness whereof. His Majesty's said Commissioners and the
said chiefs and headmen hereunto set their hands at the places and
times set forth in the year herein first above written.
Appendix 13
- 14 -
Signed at Osnaburg on the twelth day of July, 1905, by His
Majesty's Commissioners and the chiefs and headmen in the presence
of the undersigned witnesses, after having beeen first interpreted
and explained.
Adhesions to Treaty Number Nine
WHEREAS HIS MOST Gracious Majesty George V, by the Grace of
God of Great Britian, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the
Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, has been
pleased to extend the provisions of the Treaty known as The James
Bay Treaty or Treaty Number Nine, of which a true copy is hereto
annexed to the Indians inhabiting the hereinafter described
territory adjacent to the territory described in the said Treaty,
in consideration of the said Indians, agreeing to surrender and
yield up to His Majesty all their rights, titles and privileges to
the hereinafter described territory.
AN WHEREAS we, the Ojibeway, Cree and all other Indians
inhabiting the hereinafter described Territory, having had
communication of the foregoing Treaty and of the intention of His
Most Gracious Majesty to extend its provisions to us, through His
Majesty's Commissioner, Walter Charles Cain, B.A. , of the City of
Toronto, and Herbert Nathaniel Awrey, of the City of Ottawa, have
agreed to surrender and yield up to His Majesty all our rights,
titles and privileges to the said territory.
NOW THEREFORE we, the said Ojibeway, Cree and other Indian
inhabitants, in consideration of the provisions of the said
foregoing Treaty being extended to us, do hereby cede, release,
surrender and yield up to the Government of the Dominion of Canada
for His Majesty the King and His Successors forever, all our
rights, titles and privileges whatsoever in all that tract of
land, and land covered by water in the Province of Ontario,
comprising part of the District of Kenora (Patricia Portion)
containing one hundred and twenty-eight thousand three hundred and
twenty square miles, more or less, being bounded on the South by
the Northerly limit of Treaty Number Nine; on the West by Easterly
limits of Treaties Numbers Three and Five, and the boundary
between the Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba; on the North by the
waters of Hudson Bay, and on the East by the waters of James Bay
and including all islands, islets and rocks, waters and land
covered by water within the said limits, and also all the said
Indian rights, titles and privileges whatsoever to all other lands
and lands covered by water, wherever situated in the Dominion of
Canada.
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same to His Majesty the King and His
Successors forever.
AND we, the said Ojibeway, Cree and other Indian inhabitants,
represented herein by our Chiefs and Councillors presented as such
by the Bands, do hereby agree to accept the several provisions,
payments and other benefits, as stated in the said Treaty, and
solemnly promise and engage to abide by, carry out and fulfill all
Appendix 13
16 -
the stipulations, obligations and conditions therein on the part
of the said Chiefs and Indians therein named, to be observed and
performed, and in all things to conform to the articles of the
said Treaty as if we ourselves had been originally contracting
parties thereto.
AND HIS MAJESTY through His said Commissioners agrees and
undertakes to set aside reserved for each band as provided by the
said aforementioned Treaty, at such places or locations as may be
arranged between the said Commissioners and the Chiefs and headmen
of each Band.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, His Majesty's said Commissioners and the
said Chiefs and headmen have hereunto subscribed their names at
the places and times hereinafter set forth.
SIGNED at Trout Lake, on the Fifth day of July, 1929, by His
Majesty's Comissioners and the Chief and headmen in the presence
of the undersigned witnesses after having been first interpreted
and explained.
Appendix 13
A Staff Paper Prepared for
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment
Appendix 24
THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES'
PLANNING ACTIVITIES IN ONTARIO NORTH OF 50
A Critique and Evaluation of their Appropriateness
for Environmental .Assessment
A Staff Paper Prepared for
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment
by
Ian S. Fraser
Director of Research
1985
THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE NORTHERN ENVIRONMENT
Appendix 14
-3^
Roval Commission
on the Northern
Environment
130 Ounuas L;treet tv'est
Suite 2005
Toronto, Ontario M5G
lZ.d
June 26, 1985
MEMORANDUM TO:
Commissioner J.E.J. Fahlgren
FROM:
Ian S. Fraser
RE:
The Ministry oH Natviral Resources' Planning
Activities in Ontario North ot 50°
The paper presents ny evaluation of the Ministry of Natural
Resources' plannln>^ system as Implemented in Ontario North ot 50°
and a discussion ot the issues that arose over the appiicability
of the Environmental Assessment Act to it. The paper is
intended to be a contribution to the Commission's worK on
planning and environmental assessment and to provide detailed
technical substantiation for your conclusions and
reconnendations. It also constitutes a full record of the
Ministry's planning activities In the north. I am pleased to
see that you have found it usetui tor your final report.
rhis researcn nas been carried out over the past several years.
Although a few of its findings liave become superseded bv recent
events, practically ail of tnem remain valid to tins dav.
The rruciaL importance or these subjects Co northerners clearly
justlties the great etfort devoted to them by the public and your
own staff. You established liiocation and management of natural
resources as a major focus tor your hearings because you
recognized that exercise by the Ministry ot Natural Resources of
its roies of custodian, allocator, manager, and developer ot
Crown Lands can shape the future course ot northern development.
This paper reinforces your commlCTnent co environmental assessment
aa emboaying principles that can serve to balance legitimate
concerns of development and environmental protection and
contribute to better planning.
The first part of this paper is essentially a summary of the main
conclusions reached regarding the application of environmental
assessment to the planning, the status to be accorded to the land
use plans and guidelines, and the defects of the planning as a
basis for serving northerners' needs.
The second part examines the principles and process adopted lor
land use plannlne notlnty rhpi r t-roiihlesozie l=pllcatlv,:io for the
substance of the documents ultimately proauced.
The third part focuses on the documents themselves with special
reference to those for the West Patricia area. They demonstrate
biases in favour of industrial development of natural resources
and the creation of wilderness parks. Moreover, they failed to
provide a !-ai f iciently wide range of planning options for
productive response by nnrthprners and to examine fully the
social, economic and natural environmental consequences of the
options. In sum, the pLan liocurnents portend no fundamental
change in the terms and conditions or northern development.
The last part of the paper deals with the issues surrounding the
■ipp] 1 cit icn cf the Llnvirc/nmenLdl. A>>sessrnent Act to the Land use
plannini^ "md the <^on<;equences or .he Minioter .if rhe
tnvi ror.inent ' s decision that the Act does not appiv to the plan
^uidciir.cr,. ,'.^l&. I lidve urawn extensively r rem the transcripts
of your t-.earings.
Althougn in some places, Che view;; viXDrossed in Lhii (-aper are
reprt.'setited to be those ol rhe Coramission, I raiisc acknuwiedge
here that they are soieiy mv -^wti. My -ojective has heen simply
to write the pap»^r in such a w.iy mar yon could "lltt" sections
of it directly ior inciubii.a in yo-.jr -inal Report it you =.0
wished.
Ian S. Eraser
Director of Research
1 -
PLANNING BY THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION
One overriding objective of the Commission's program is to
recommend improvements in the methods used to reach decisions on
northern development. In its reaction to Reed Limited 's timber
harvesting and mill proposals, mercury pollution in the English-
Wabigoon system, and other large projects being mooted across the
north, the public insisted that development patterns of the past
and their adverse consequences should not be replicated in the
more-remote north and hence that fundamental changes need to be
made in the planning and decision processes.
My Commission's interests in decision-making for Ontario
North of 50° have focused primarily on the evaluation process
stemming from the Environmental Assessment Act, 1975, on the
planning process applied by the Ministry of Natural Resources, and
on the embodiment of environmental assessment principles in the
planning.
The Ministry of Natural Resources' planning and program-
delivery activities have potential to shape the future course of
northern development, which will continue to depend primarily on
the use of natural resources. The Ministry performs crucial roles
of custodian, allocator, manager, and developer of the Crown lands
that comprise practically all of Ontario North of 50°. Land use
planning by the Ministry creates a framework, of objectives,
strategies, and targets that gives direction to the subsequent
formulation and eventual carrying out of projects and plans to
manage resources. Consequently, decisions on the allocation and
management of natural resources, consistent with a plan, can have
crucially important beneficial or harmful consequences for the
cultural, economic, and natural environments of the north. For
these reasons, my Commission's programs of research and public
participation have accorded a central place to evaluating the
conceptual underpinnings, principles, process, research and public
consultation methods, and products of the Ministry's planning.
The Environmental Assessment Act, 197 6 can play the
central role in balancing the legitimate concerns of development
and environmental protection. The Act establishes a planning and
decision process that takes into account, at an early stage, all
possible environmental effects of significant undertakings.
Moreover, the Act can give the public an avenue for involvement
In decision-making and a means of access to an accounting of how
and why decisions are reached. I strongly support the views
expressed to me that the future of the north depends to a very
great degree on the effective application of environmental
assessment to all proposed enterprises likely to have significant
impacts and that environmental assessment principles are an
essential ingredient of good resource planning.
Appendix 14
- 2
PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
The evidence before me leads rae to conclude that
environmental assessment principles necessary for good planning
have not been injected satisfactorily into the land use planning
for Ontario North of 50°. Nor am I confident that these
principles will be applied effectively at later stages in the
Ministry of Natural Resources' planning system.
For most of this Commission's life, the government affirmed
and reiterated that the Ministry's land use planning activities
are provincial government activities that were to be dealt with
under the Environmental Assessment Act and that the plan for
the West Patricia area, in particular, would be subject to full
individual environmental assessment
p>2n marked by
controversy regarding the point at which the Act should be applied
in the system, which differentiates land use planning from a
subsequent stage of resource management planning. In late 1982,
the Ministers of Natural Resources and the Environment informed me
that the land use plans, including the plan for West Patricia,
were not, after all, subject to the Act; the Act would instead be
applied later, when reaching decisions about the allocation and
management of resources associated with individual major projects,
which might be consistent with the land use plans, or not.
The ministers separated decision-making from land use planning by
asserting that the plans about to be completed would be, in fact,
only guidelines that might be adhered to, taken into account, or
ignored. 1 believe that this about-face by government, and the
consequent ambiguous status of the guidelines as a basis for
decision-making on development, can only erode public confidence
in both land use planning and the administration of the
Environmental Assessment Act.
Towards discharge of my Commission's obligation to assist the
Government of Ontario in refining its planning and decision-making
processes for allocation and management of natural resources
across the remote north, I established resource allocation and
resource management as central issues in my mandate, initiated
staff research projects to evaluate the planning system, the plan
documents, and the public involvement process, directed written
questions to the Ministers of Natural Resources and the
Environment, and had my staff and legal counsel analyze views
expressed on these matters by the public in written submissions
and orally at hearings. As a result of these activities, I have
amassed a staggering amount of testimony that I have found
difficult to assimilate, to evaluate, and to respond to in a
constructive manner.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has spent years of time and
effort and millions of dollars of public money to carry out its
land use planning across the north. Over the course of my
Appendix 14
- 3 -
Commission's work, T have gained a great deal of respect for the
high motives underlying the planning, for the dedication and
competence of the planners, for the heightened awareness of issues
that has resulted from the Ministry's public involvement program,
and for the evident usefulness of the information assembled. Land
use planning across the north has many accomplishments to its
credit. And many of the criticisms that have been levelled
against it by the public and are now levelled against it by me
stem from limitations inherent in the Ministry's mandate and hence
beyond the Ministry's control.
I have had to conclude, with reluctance, that the land use
plan documents and the assumptions underlying them are so
seriously flawed that they must not be implemented. The Minister
of Natural Resources has reinforced this view (although not likely
for the same reasons) by downgrading the status of the documents
to that of guidelines that might or might not be adhered to.
Moreover, I consider that the documents are so seriously flawed
that they should be discounted as a basis for informed
decision-making about balanced development in the north.
I base my conclusion that the land use guidelines, in their
present form and with their present ambigious status as regards
government commitment to them, should not be used for
decision-making on four main grounds, all stemming from my terms
of reference. First, the guidelines portend no fundamental change
in the nature, scale, terms and conditions of northern
development; their implementation would merely perpetuate and
extend into the more-remote north a kind of development so clearly
unacceptable that the government was moved to create my Commission
and to accelerate land use planning in the West Patricia area.
Second, the land use planning process culminating in the
plans/guidelines failed to examine a sufficiently wide range of
development alternatives or to evaluate and compare the
implications of those alternatives that it did examine in social,
economic and natural environmental terras; the process thus
disregarded the principles of good planning called for by the
Environmental Assessment Act.
Third, the process reinforced, rather than allayed, the
legitimate complaints of northerners, particularly native
northerners, that they lack power to significantly influence the
decisions being made about the course of northern development in
government and corporate boardrooms elsewhere; northerners made it
plain that simply being heard is not good enough. Fourth, the
ambiguous status of the plan documents as a basis for
decision-making about development leaves far too much
discretionary power in the hands of politicians and senior
bureaucrats.
In reaching my conclusions and framing ray recommendations
about planning for resource allocation and management in the
Appendix 14
- 4
north, I consulted six vast bodies of evidence. First, I had my
staff carry out a technical appraisal of the Ministry of Natural
Resources' statements about the underlying principles, intent,
scope and methodology of its own planning system, as set out in
its publication Guidelines for Land Use Planning, 1980 and
various internal documents. The second body of evidence was the
substance of the plan documents themselves, as they evolved from
the relatively unsophisticated, preliminary, regional strategic
plans for Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario published
during the mid-to-late 1970s to the much more comprehensive and
polished regional strategic plans and district guidelines of the
past two years. The third body of information was the outcome of
my staff's observation and evaluation of the Ministry's public
involvement program in the north. The fourth was an examination,
again by staff, of the changing relationship between the Ministry
of Natural Resources and the Ministry of the Environment in
matters respecting the desirability of applying environmental
assessment principles to planning for resource allocation and
resource management. The fifth body of evidence was the responses
of the ministers and staff of these two ministries to the letters
I wrote to them and to the questions I raised for them at formal
public hearings. The sixth, no less important than the others,
was the comments and recommendations made about planning and the
applicability of environmental assessment thereto by government
officials, interest groups and the public generally in written
submissions and in oral presentations at my hearings; as expected,
these comments and recommendations ranged from broad conceptual
and methodological matters to more parochial matters having to do
with the likely impacts of plan implementation on local areas and
business enterprises.
POWERS AND LIMITATIONS INHERENT IN THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL
RESOURCES' MANDATE
The Government of Ontario bears responsibility for planning
across the north and hence for decision-making about future
development there. Since its Design for Development Program
was disbanded in the late 1970s, the government has abandoned any
mechanism for comprehensive provincial and regional planning
spanning the social, economic and natural environmental fields.
Such planning as now exists is compartmentalized in individual
ministries, which carry it out mainly in order to rationalize and
streamline their own policies and program-delivery activities. No
single agency of the provincial government is mandated to plan
comprehensively. Each agency that does plan does so largely
within the scope of its own jurisdiction.
The dichotomy between the powers of the Ministry of Natural
Resources to affect the course of northern development and the
limitations of its mandate to assume responsibility for the
outcome of northern development has become a major issue for
Appendix 14
- 6
northerners and a perplexing one for me. The Ministry wields
enormous powers in the north by virtue of its roles as custodian,
allocator, manager and developer of the Crown lands that comprise
practically all of Ontario North of 50°. The Ministry's exercise
of these roles in delivering its programs has major consequences
for people and the natural environment in the region. Yet the
Ministry's plan documents pay scant attention to the likely
social, economic and natural environmental impacts of the programs
that they advocate. The Ministry has never claimed that it is
engaged in comprehensive planning, an activity for which it is, in
any event, neither mandated nor staffed. Instead, it asserts that
its planning system, and the system's land use planning component
in particular, is designed primarily to meet the Ministry's own
needs for coordination of its programs. While internal
coordination is an unarguably laudable objective for an agency
having such diverse interests and responsibilities, the Ministry's
activities, whether coordinated or not, do have a major impact
across the north. Hence, the appropriateness of its planning
system for informed decision-making on northern development and
for resolution of northern tradeoff issues is a legitimate matter
for the public's concern, and my own.
No single agency, even though well-intentioned, should wield
such a degree of power over northern development and yet be
unaccountable for the consequences. Clearly, the biases and
limited scope inherent in planning by a single agency can lead
only to a narrow and distorted view of what should be done to meet
northerners' needs for a balanced, controlled approach to
development and environmental protection. I believe that conduct
of northern planning should be shared and coordinated across
ministries having responsibilities in social, economic, and
environmental matters and that steps must be taken to ensure that
northerners can play a stronger role in planning and
decision-making on issues that affect them.
COMPONENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES' PLANNING
SYSTEM
The Ministry of Natural Resources is not required by any
statute to create formal plans of any kind. The Ministry cannot
point to any single legislative authority for Its land use
planning activities. Its planning process stems from policy
decisions made at Cabinet and ministerial levels rather than from
legal specifications.
The Ministry's corporate planning system consists of five
interlocking subsystems: policy planning, land use planning,
resource management planning, work program planning, and work
program evaluation. The Commission's research has focused on land
use planning and its relationships with the policy planning and
resource management planning components of the system. It has
sought to establish the point or points at which the
Environmental Assessment Act can be most fruitfully applied in
Appendix 14
- 6 -
the continuum of planning and decision-making activities that
these three subsystems embody. The research has evaluated the
planning principles, the planning process, and the substance of
the plan/guideline documents themselves, using as touchstones the
Ministry of Natural Resources' Guidelines for Land Use
Planning J 1980 and the Ministry of the Environment's General
Guidelines for the Preparation of Environmental Assessments,
1981,
Policy planning, which flows from the basic philosophical
presuppositions of government, answers the question of "what", in
the Ministry's words, "is to be achieved and why"? Policy
planning, as the first component in the planning system, puts in
place a policy framework for land use planning and for the other
subsystems that follow on from it. Although the land use planning
process provides for modification of policy through analysis,
testing and perhaps public input, the extent to which these can
effect changes in fundamental policy thrust remains open to
serious question.
The Ministry defines a land use plan as "a document which
indicates how the Ministry plans to use Crown land and. . .intends
to influence the use of private land in achieving its objectives."
It states that the purpose of a land use plan is "to coordinate
the various Ministry programs, concerning the use of land, so that
conflicts and inefficiencies are avoided and all objectives are
met." The land use plans - now "guidelines" - provide a spatial
framework and direction for the formulation of resource management
plans for particular uses and areas.
The placing of resource management considerations largely
outside the domain of land use planning creates an arbitrary
distinction between ends (land use objectives) and means
(management), and thereby raises questions about the
appropriateness and attainability of objectives, impairs the
generation of plan options, and complicates the issue of the
applicability of the Environmental Assessment Act to the
planning system.
LAND DSE PLANNING: PRINCIPLES AND PROCESS
The Ministry of Natural Resources sets out the purpose, scope
and approach of its land use planning in Guidelines for Land
Use Planning, 1980. This document first states a set of nine
planning principles to be adhered to by the Ministry in
formulating and evaluating land use plans (Figure 1). It then
defines a seven-step planning process that begins with the setting
of terms of reference and ends with the approval and
implementation of district plans. Figure 2 shows this process and
its functional links to policy generation and resource management.
Appendix 14
- 7
Finally, the document sets out prescriptions for involvement by
the public in the land use planning process.
These three interwoven elements - principles, process, and
public involvement - together constitute a logical, coherent, and
internally consistent framework governing land use planning to
meet the Ministry's own objectives. And, in a broader planning
context, they could have produced better plan documents than they
did. That they did not is attributed to two main factors:
limitations of scope inherent in the Ministry's mandate and
shortcomings in the application of the planning principles and
methodologies established.
Principles
Planning Areas
The sixth principle stipulates that "planning decisions
should be made through a hierarchy of planning areas where broad
decisions are made before detailed decisions" in order to
"guarantee overall consistency and balance across the province."
Land use plan documents are prepared for the province, the
planning regions (Northwestern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario and
Southern Ontario) and districts of the Ministry of Natural
Resources.
In essence, the Ministry's land use planning embodies a
"top-down" process, iterative to a degree, through which
provincial policies are first consolidated at the level of the
province and then progressively refined and given greater detail
and locational specificity at the regional and district levels.
By and large, the district plan documents state provincial policy
articulated at the district level rather than an authentic
district perspective on policy. This emphasis in land use
planning is understandable and logical - the Ministry is, after
all, a provincial agency - but it detracts from acceptability in
the districts, where the plan prescriptions may be applied.
Policies, Objectives and Targets
The first planning principle asserts that plans are made to
attain ends, for which the Ministry uses the terms policy ,
objective and t arget . Policy is the "decision concerning the
objectives to be achieved and the means of achieving them." An
objective is "a quantifiable end result to be achieved." Targets
are "quantified objectives with a date for achievement" the year
2000 in this case.
Appendix 14
FIGUEIE 1
THE PLA^1NI^JG PKir^CIPLES
Plans are made to actiieve objectives. Ihese
must be clearly identified in the planning
process.
2. Public participation is essential in the plan-
ning process.
3. The planning process must include distinct
points where options are considered and full
disclosure is given of the conseqiaences and
trade-offs associated with each option.
4. Planning is a dynamic process.
5. Plans must be made for a long terra and should
provide for fiature options.
6. Planning decisions should be made through a
hierarchy of planning areas vvhere broad deci-
sions are made before detailea decisions.
The public good must take precedence over the
individual good.
8. Plans must identify land so that the most effi-
cient use is made of land as it relates to the
Gwj ec i_ i.vea I
9. Plans mui>L recognize chat the natural environ-
ment lias limited ability to provide long terra
benefits and to withstand use.
Appendix 14
!A -
IGURE 2
RELATION' BETWEEN PROVINCIAE. RECIONAE AND nif^TKlPT I,A\-n II
PLANNING AiND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANNING
Resource
>lanageinent
r'lanning
ndividunl Pohcv
)n<:inaled bv — "
iranch concerned
ilanaRc Allocated
^nd w meet
)olic\- — ■
Lund Use Plannmp
I ProviTiCia!
' He^ionBl
DiKtricl
1. Terms of Reference
2. Inlormaf.on
3. Develop provincial
policy by —^
assembimp
individual policies
and assipn tarjjeu<
to planning region
Terms of
Keierence
Iniormation
Develop Regional
Policy
L>evelop *
Conceptual Plan
and assign
targets to
Districts
1. Terms of Reference
I 2. Information
I A. Develop the District Policy
I 4. Develop the Conceptual Plan
1 5. Develop the Land Use Plan
I 6. Develop the Review Procedure
j7. Plan Approval and implementation
- 9
MAP
MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES PLANNING REGIONS.
ADMIMSTIIATIVE REGIONS AND AUMLNISTK_A'n VE DISTRICTS
REGIONS
L NORTHWESTERN f^.' ^ , -v ^v-"''';' £ .„..
2. NORTHCENTRAL />-"/ ,,^ '^^■- "-"''"'. ^.>^''^' l
3. NORTHERN / -' ^ ,' - , ^ .,---.
'' / * \ \ '
4. NORTHEASTERN / o / r
/• - \
D.ALGONQUIN ' ^ " v.^
6. EASTERN
7. CENTRAL
8. SOUTHWESTERN
I \
1
•'""• «««c*<
lAwtoS
,s, .':"v.«~H ^p,r:.': *-'•
A.
SMC UiJJ
Appendix 14
- 10
The progressive coordination and detailing of policies,
objectives and, especially, targets dovm through the planning area
hierarchy represent the means whereby the Ministry's province-wide
policies are transmitted ultimately to its districts. The
district targets represent the hard, usually quantified core of
the district plan guidelines, the explicit statements of ends to
be attained and to be taken into account when reaching decisions
to allocate natural resources, initiate projects or undertake
management programs. Therefore, analysis of the targets
themselves, their method of derivation, and the key assumptions on
which they rest provides the clue to identifying fundamental ends
of the Ministry's land use planning and the balance accorded by
the planning to economic, social and natural environmental
matters. Problems with targets underlie many of the deficiencies
evident in the plan documents themselves.
Weighting of Social, Economic and Natural Environmental
Objectives
The weight and balance that the government places on
economic, social and natural environmental objectives shifts over
time and may not be explicitly expressed. The planners,
confronted with the task of correctly gauging the government's
current mood, and therefore determining what will be acceptable
and what will not, have affirmed the overriding importance of
meeting economic objectives. The eighth planning principle states
that plans must ensure "that the most efficient use is made of
land," going on to emphasize that the optional plan which "would
permit the achievement of all the objectives at lowest cost would
generally be the best plan." Here, the Ministry is affirming that
its "optional land use plans must be evaluated on their long-term
economic efficiency."
Generation and Evaluation of Options
The Ministry of Natural Resouces ' land use planning process
calls for the generation of options and stipulates that "full
disclosure is given of the consequences and trade-offs associated
with each option." This principle is fully consistent with
procedures under the Environmental Assessment Act, which
require a proponent to show that the environmental effects of
various alternative courses of action were identified and
evaluated before one of them was selected and put forward as the
undertaking. The failure of the Ministry of Natural Resources to
effectively implement this principle of its own in this instance
is a central theme of the Commission's evaluation.
Appendix 14
- 11 -
Flexibility Over the Long-Term
The fifth planning principle is that "Plans must be made for
a long term and should provide for future options." The fourth
reinforces this by affirming that "Planning is a dynamic
process.... and must be sensitive to changing conditions and new
information." In effect, choices are meant to be left open to
accommodate both unforeseen circumstances and the needs of future
generations and, therefore, land use planning must continue on
beyond the production of district plan documents to monitor their
implementation and if necessary to review and revise them.
These principles are laudable, and should be adhered to.
However, the Commission's research and the Ministry's internal
evaluation of its land use planning for Northwestern Ontario and
Northeastern Ontario cast doubt on the flexibility of the plans,
if implemented, to accommodate future options to a significant
degree. The Ministry's own target setting, for example,
demonstrates that the development potentials of biological
resources in Ontario's vast remote north are not only finite but
can become fully utilized over a short period of time. And,
without proper management and conservation, these potentials could
become readily exhausted.
Environmental Limits to Development and Use
The ninth planning objective establishes that "Plans must
recognize that the natural environment has a limited capacity to
provide long terra benefits and to withstand use." The Ministry
introduces the concept of capacity to denote environmental limits
on development and use of biological resources and, in preparing
its land use plans, establishes capacity standards as a basis for
calculating the supply of these resources that can be sustained
over time. Moveover, as the Guidelines for Land Use
Planning note, the Ministry recognizes that "capacity does vary
according to the level of management" and that therefore "the
assumed level of management for each capacity standard chosen must
be explained."
But the Ministry has placed detailed consideration of
resource management beyond the scope of land use planning. Its
regional and district plan documents can deal with the management
assumptions associated with the capacity standards set for
particular biological commodities in only a superficial and
unquantified manner. And, as later discussion shows, the planners
evidently assumed that management intensities for such commodities
as timber and fur-bearers would be applied uniformly across the
district or large parts of it and not adjusted to reflect
variations in such factors as capability, habitat, and competing
uses. Finally, the documents establish production targets for
many biological commodities at levels equivalent to or approaching
specified productive standards.
Appendix 14
12 -
How then, given these uncertainties about the relationships
between standards, management, and targets, can the decision-maker
or reader be confident that the standards, general management
prescriptions, and targets presented are realistic, appropriate,
and attainable? Reservations about these matters lay open the
very core of the planning to serious question.
Beneficiaries of Land Use Planning
While the seventh principle asserts that "the public good
must take precedence over the individual good," the
Guidelines shed no light on two related questions crucial to
this Commission. Who are to be the primary beneficiaries of the
Ministry's planning? To what extent are the concerns of local
people, particularly native people, to be taken into account in
the plan documents or to be accorded priority in development?
Resolution of this issue clearly lies beyond the Ministry's
mandate. It is not surprising that, when the plan documents
attempt to confront it, they do so in an ambiguous and equivocal
manner. Nevertheless, the Ministry has since 1974 adhered to a
contentious policy of protection for local and traditional users
that guided officials in their routine operational decisions.
That policy was to restrict disposition of public lands north of
the 11th baseline in the northwest, north of the Albany River in
the centre, and north of the 7th baseline in the northeast in
order to prevent over-exploitation and resource use conflicts.
The Ministry now appears to adopt the position that
completion of the district land use plans-guidelines in the north
would enable it to make allocation and management decisions case
by case on the basis of existing use and resource potential
considerations, tempered by public consultation, and that the
public land disposition policy would hence become redundant. The
Ministry's stance on local and traditional users is of central
concern to my Commission. In effect, the disposition policy,
though admittedly ad hoc, accorded a measure of priority to native
people in the allocation and management of natural resources in
the northern part of Ontario North of 50°. Its abandonment could
open the door to development of the remote north by outside,
non-native interests, particularly tourist outpost camp operators,
and could prove to be a particularly explosive issue across the
north.
The Land Use Planning Process
Policy Development
The Ministry of Natural Resources' Guidelines for Land Use
Planning J 1980 set out a seven-step land use planning process
to be applied through the hierarchy of planning areas (Figure
2). As the Guidelines point out,
Steps 6 and 7 may no longer be relevant, now that the district
plan documents have been relegated to "guideline" status.
Appendix 14
- 13
"The full planning process is not carried out at all
levels. The main purpose of the provincial plan is to
give policy direction to the regions. The main purpose
of the regional plan is to give policy direction and
some area designations to the districts.... At the
district level of planning, policy must be translated
into a land use plan and as a result the entire planning
process must be completed."
The essence of the process is embodied in two key tasks which
are the focus of the following discussion. The first entails
policy development and policy refinement through testing. The
second calls for the transformation of policy into spatial terms,
in the forms of first optional plans, then a preferred option, and
finally an approved plan. Policy development at the provincial
level is government's prerogative and takes place largely outside
the ambit of land use planning. The provincial land use plan
synthesizes provincial policies and assigns the associated
objectives and targets to the Northwestern Ontario, Northeastern
Ontario and Southern Ontario planning regions. At the level of
the planning region,
"Policy is developed by testing the proposed targets
through public participation and by calculation of the
capacity of the region to produce desired benefits. If
the proposed targets are unacceptable then alternatives
must be proposed, evaluated and negotiated with the
provincial level. If the policy is acceptable a
conceptual plan is developed and targets are assigned to
districts."
Policy development at the district level takes place in the
same manner except, of course, that negotiations are conducted
with the regional level. As the Guideline;^ frt' 'jund Use
Planning state,
"The essence of a district plan is an identification of
appropriate land and water areas for the various
Ministry programs. For Crown land the plan must provide
for all government programs. For private land the plan
must identify those land and water areas which are
critical for achievement of the Ministry of Natural
Resources programs.
"Ultimately the plan must be compatible with other
agency plans including those of the Conservation
Authorities and the plans of the municipalities."
A Seven-Step Process
The first step entails establishment of the terms of
reference for the plans by identifying the primary clients, the
decision makers, the work program, and the schedule of events for
public participation.
Appendix 14
14
The second step calls for the collection and analysis of
information in order to establish natural resource, present use,
and existing plan parameters for dimensioning the resource supply
component in the plans. Supply potentials for future development
are derived by deducting present use and the land and water
requirements associated with existing plans from the total
potential level of supply or production. The Ministry
acknowledges a special obligation to integrate the Crown land
requirements of other government agencies with those of its own
program fields.
The third step, policy development, brings together, compares
and reconciles two streams of earlier work: on the one hand, the
policies, objectives and targets assigned for individual program
fields by work at the next higher level in the hierarchy and, on
the other, the potential production measures derived from the
second step. Since the targets represent demand for programs
(i.e., for goods and services), this third step calls for a
comparison of supply and demand measures for such individual
commodities as timber, fur, and recreation. The methodology used
is referred to as single-factor target testing. Through its
application at both regional and district levels, targets may be
considered acceptable if they do not exceed total potential
production and if they are not opposed on strong social grounds.
The fourth step in the planning process entails the
generation and evaluation of a conceptual plan that will
approximate the final plan. According to the Guidelines for
Land Use Planning, the conceptual plan is to be derived first
by preparing a series of optional conceptual plans and second by
evaluating these options and selecting a preferred one. For
generating optional plans, the Ministry planners devised a
procedure known as multiple-factor target testing in order to
determine whether all targets can be achieved collectively and
without conflict from the available resource base. The test
embodies an iterative process for revision of amenity targets,
economic targets and conflict assumptions until all program
conflicts are resolved and all individual program targets can be
met. Unfortunately, the district plan documents provide no
evidence that this test was ever applied.
Optional plans are then to be evaluated and a preferred one
chosen on the basis of criteria stated in the Guidelines as
follows:
"Since each conceptual plan to be viable must meet all
the targets, the only difference between them would be
economic costs, social preference, future options and
whatever environmental impacts are not accounted for in
the targets. The planner must describe all these
variables and clearly portray these to the decision
makers who will make the choice.
ApyendC.': 14
- 16 -
"It is suggested that, all other things being equal,
preference be given to plans that:
(a) cost least to implement;
(b) maintain most future options;
(c) are most acceptable socially;
(d) cause least environmental damage."
For the regional planning, this step is the concluding one.
The finally approved conceptual plan for the region provides a
framework for further articulation at the district level and the
reconciled targets are assigned as a prerequisite for generation
and evaluation of options by the district planners.
In the case of the regional planning for Northwestern Ontario
and Northeastern Ontario and the planning for West Patricia and
perhaps some other districts, the actual application of this
fourth step diverged markedly from the above guideline
prescriptions in several crucial respects. At the regional level,
the planners carried out target testing and option generation as
an entirely in-house exercise. However, the procedures followed
and the evaluation criteria used are not documented in the
approved regional plan reports. The public was not provided with
any explicit accounting of how the conceptual plans for the
regions were devised and evaluated or how the targets ultimately
assigned to West Patricia and other districts were set.
In the case of West Patricia, target testing and the
generation of options took place only in a truncated fashion. The
planners were unable to produce any optional conceptual plan that
could achieve all program targets. Yet, a fundamental principle
of the planning system is that a plan, to be feasible, must meet
targets to the maximum extent possible. And so, instead of
applying the valid evaluation criteria set forth in the
GuideZinAs , the planners had to evaluate options and select
a preferred option solely on the basis of degree of target
achievement. Neither the decision makers nor the public were
provided with an accounting of the consequences of the options in
social, economic, and natural environmental terms.
The P'/>:)posed Policy and Optional Plans documents for
the West Patricia area and districts across the north, released in
June 1982, record the results of the land use planning process to
the end of the fourth step. The fifth step calls for development
of the land use plans for the districts through refinement of the
preferred conceptual plan. The refinement process entails further
specification of internal zones and prescriptions and analysis of
the public's response to the options offered. In the case of
northern Ontario, targets and other prescriptions for the
individual districts were compared and reconciled through
synthesis. The Minister of Natural Resources reviewed a draft of
Appendix 14
- 16 -
the plan guidelines for each district and discussed it with the
district manager. After modification through this internal
review, the Land Use Guidelines for each district except
West Patricia were completed and published.
The Ministry's land use planning process appears to have been
truncated at the termination of the fifth step. Given the
guideline status of the published reports, further consideration
of steps 6 (Review Procedure) and 7 (Plan Approval and
Implementation) appears to be irrelevant and redundant.
Planning Phases and Products
Strategic (Regional) Land Use Planning
The Northwestern Ontario Strategic Land Use Plan and
the Northeastern Ontario Strategic Land Use Plan, both
published in the spring of 1982, constitute the products of the
land use planning process for the two northern planning regions.
These plans, which were approved by the Ministry of Natural
Resources, established the framework of policies, objectives, and
targets for planning in the West Patricia area and districts
elsewhere across the north.
These regional strategic plans were the outcome of a program
of inventory, analysis, and public involvement spanning almost ten
years. The Ministry originally foresaw that this process of
progressive refinement of policies, objectives and targets at the
regional level would be carried out in three phases, each
involving release of a document that would form the basis for
further review, research, and consultation. The phasing actually
implemented differed somewhat from that originally set out.
In the case of northwestern Ontario, the first phase
culminated in the document Background Information and Approach
to Policy in September 1974, the second in Proposed
Policy in September 1977, and the third in Strategic Land
Use Plan in June 1980. This third document was not accepted as
the final plan; instead two further years of refinement ensued
before the approved strategic plan was released. The planning for
northwestern Ontario thus went through three cycles of public
involvement.
In northeastern Ontario, the process was truncated so that
only two cycles of involvement were implemented. The first phase
culminated in Background Information and Approach to Policy
in June 1978, the second in Proposed Strategic Land Use Plan
in March 1980, and the third in the approved Strategic Land Use
Plan in April 1982.
Appendix 14
17
The 1980 plan documents for the two planning regions provided
statements of policies, objectives, and targets that were judged
to be superficial and incomplete. Their deficiencies reflect both
the paucity of data, particularly for the more remote areas, and a
lack of staff experience in specifying planning principles,
policies and operational strategies at the regional level and in
conducting effective public participation.
Meanwhile, as early as 1977, the Ministry of Natural
Resources was mounting a major program of resources inventory and
analysis to accommodate the special planning requirements for the
West Patricia area. And, by 1980, the Ministry was deploying
greatly augmented staff and financial efforts towards data
collection, analysis, public consultation, and the fleshing out of
objectives, strategies and targets for regional and district land
use plans across the north. Accordingly, the 1982 approved
regional plans represent a vast improvement over the earlier draft
versions.
District Land Use Planning
Land use planning at the district level, like that for the
regions, was to have been carried out in three phases, each
involving release of a report for subsequent public reaction. For
planning purposes, the Ministry of Natural Resources has treated
the West Patricia area, encompassing all of Red Lake and Sioux
Lookout districts and a large part of Geraldton District, as a
single district like others across the north.
Land use planning in the northern districts was initiated in
the late 1970s. The first phase entailed the assembly and
analysis of information concerning characteristics, potentials,
and uses of natural resources. This was a particularly formidable
and costly task, necessitated by the paucity of data previously
available for planning. In the case of West Patricia, the
detailed results of this inventory phase were made available in
two forms: 40 technical reports on fisheries, wildlife, and
heritage resources released during 1979 and 1980 and 27 background
information reports published for wide distribution during the
period 1978 to 1981. This first phase work was summarized in
Vest Patvioia Land Us<? ^lan: Background Information released
for public review in January 1982. Background Information reports
were published for other northern districts, except Moosonee, over
the period May 1980 to March 1982.
Following public response, the second phase culminated in the
release of Proposed Poliay and Optional Plans documents in
June 1982 for West Patricia and other northern districts, Moosonee
again excepted. Strategic (regional) and district planning meshed
at this time; in the various reports for the two levels in the
planning hierarchy, the statements of objectives and strategies
Appendix 14
18
are compatible and the district targets for the individual policy
areas are identical.
At this point, the phasing of the planning diverged from the
process set out earlier. The third phase was intended to take
into account public response to the options presented in the
second for the preparation of a preferred conceptual land use
plan, which in turn would be subject to public scrutiny before
completion of the final district plans. This did not happen. The
second phase documents offered instead what amounted to a
preferred option, a "compromise option that best portrays a
balance of target achievement for all Ministry programs". These
documents were the focus of the second, and last, round of public
consultation, analysis, and internal review by the Ministry of
Natural Resources. In the Ministry's words,
"Following the completion of the District Land Use
Plans, the degree to which targets are achieved will be
reviewed across the Planning Region. Where necessary
appropriate revisions to the targets and policies will
be made at both the strategic and district levels.
• • • <
,a final plan will be prepared which will maximize
objectives while minimizing land use conflicts within
the District. The approved District Land Use Plan will
then provide, for the District, overall guidance for the
operation of the resource management programs of the
Ministry of Natural Resources."
The Land Use Guidelines were published in early 1983
for the following districts that project into Ontario North
of 50°: Kenora, Dryden, Ignace, Nipigon, Hearst, Kapuskasing, and
Cochrane. At the Commissioner's request, the Minister of Natural
Resources agreed to withhold completion of the Guidelines
for the West Patricia area until the Commissioner has made his
recommendations. The Ministry's planning for Moosonee District,
which includes the Hudson Bay and James Bay Lowlands, has lagged
considerably behind that for the other northern districts and is
still in progress.
WEST PATRICIA LAND USE PLAN:
PROPOSED POLICY AND OPTIONAL PLANS
Scope of the Commission's Review
The Royal Commission on the Northern Environment has reviewed
the unfolding of the strategic and district land use planning
across Ontario North of 50°. This review has focused on West
Patricia for two reasons: first because this area epitomizes the
major social, economic and natural environmental issues arising
from increasing development impacts on the natural resources.
Appendix 14
19
resource utilization patterns, and settlements of the Boreal
forest and Shield environments of Ontario North of 50°, and second
because land use planning for the Lowlands, the second main
component, is still in its initial stages. The northward advance
of the leading edge of more intensive development into the
southern part of the area has been accompanied by new urban
settlements, resource extraction on a large scale, and some
devastating consequences for the original native inhabitants. Its
expansion into the less easily accessible and more remote parts of
West Patricia would impinge increasingly on fragile environments
and on the natural resources available for wilderness outpost
tourism, commercial trapping and fishing, and subsistence
activities. The Commission is obliged, by its terms of reference,
to assess the implications of the land use planning with respect
to these issues.
Because the final land use guidelines for West Patricia have
not been published, the Commission's review has had to centre on
the most recent report available. West Patricia Land Use Plan:
Proposed Policy and Optional Plans. Option D, the option
preferred by the Ministry of Natural Resources, has been assumed
to be the one most likely to approximate the final guidelines.
The review opens with a discussion of this document's
contents, then provides a brief summary of what it has to say
about the geographic pattern of future development in the area,
and concludes with a somewhat technical treatment of major issues
pertaining to target setting, the generation of optional plans,
the criteria for evaluating options, and operational strategies
for meeting objectives.
Characteristics and Contents
Proposed Policy and Optional Plans is the product of a
process that has transmitted to West Patricia a provincial
perspective on the allocation and management of the area's natural
resources. The broad intent is to identify the lands and waters
necessary to achieve the Ministry's programs for the year 2000.
The hard core of the document's prescriptions is defined by the
objectives and, in particular, by the allocation targets set for
individual activities over which the Ministry has jurisdiction.
These objectives and targets, and the broad operational strategies
needed to attain them, are articulated both for the area as a
whole and for its component zones, as delineated on end-paper
maps. The document does not present explicit, substantiated
strategies for trading-off between activities competing for a
common resource base or for attaining simultaneously all
objectives and targets; instead, such strategies are accorded
extensive, non-quantified, descriptive treatment.
West Patricia Land Use Plan: Proposed Policy and Optional
Plans, released in June 1982, is a massive report consisting of
368 text pages and four-end paper maps showing the zone divisions
Appendix 14
- 20
for each option at a scale of approximately 13 miles to 1 inch.
The report has six sections entitled Introduction, Methodology,
Proposed Polioy , Optional Land Use Plans, Public Input, and
Appendices . Three-quarters of the text is devoted to a
discussion of the plan options.
The Introduction provides merely a summary statement of
land use planning in the West Patricia area in the contexts of the
strategic land use plan for Northwestern Ontario and the Ministry
of Natural Resources' land use planning program as a whole.
The section on Methodology is a two-page summary of the
Ministry's methodology for single-factor target testing,
trading-off among conflicting land-use program areas (activities)
and generating optional land use plans. The single-factor target
test was applied to assess the attainability of district targets
set in the approved strategic land use plan for northwestern
Ontario in the light of better resource information available at
the district level. In the Ministry's words, "at this stage,
competition for the land base between various Ministry programs
whose uses may be incompatible are not considered." The results
of the testing led to adjustments in the district and regional
targets.
With respect to trading-off between competing activities, the
report offers no explicit methodology. Yet Ministry planners had
developed an elaborate multiple-factor target test, "in which the
single factor requirements of each program are compared
collectively to determine the degree of compatibility in target
achievement within the District (i.e., is there enough land to
satisfy all program objectives)". This test could illuminate and
perhaps quantify major tradeoff issues. However, nothing in the
report's text suggests that it was actually applied. The
Ministry's optional land use plans are essentially the alternative
compromise that it offers towards addressing the problems of
competing demands for a common natural resource base. Each option
in effect maximizes target achievement in at least one of the
Ministry's main program areas.
The report's third section, on Proposed Policy, deals
first with ten general policies 1 and then with fourteen particular
policies^ corresponding to the Ministry's program interests. The
^The public interest, environment, multiple use, access roads,
forest reserves. Crown land disposition, hazard lands, water
management, fire management, and energy.
^Residential development, industrial and special development,
agriculture, mineral management, wildlife, commercial fur, wild
rice, fisheries. Crown land recreation. Crown land cottaging,
tourism, provincial parks, forestry, and sensitive areas.
Appendix 14
- 21 -
general policies apply throughout the Northwestern Ontario
planning region. The statements for particular policies have four
components; first, a summary of the regional policy and the
targets assigned by the regional plan to the districts within the
West Patricia area; second, a synopsis of current resource
utilization and associated issues in West Patricia; third, a
discussion of supply and demand and their Implications for target
achievement; and fourth, a general operational strategy for
attainment of objectives and targets.
The report's fourth section on Optional Land Use Plans
describes, compares and evaluates four options, differing in their
policy-area prescriptions for the Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and
Geraldton components and, where appropriate, for zones within
these components. All targets could not be attained
simultaneously from the planning area's resource base; no single
optional plan could satisfy all of the Ministry's program
objectives. The optional plans illustrate the trade-offs
confronting the Ministry. Options A and B maximize the objectives
of the provincial park system at the expense of resource
production objectives. Option C maximizes resource production
objectives at the expense of park objectives. Option D is offered
as a "compromise option that best portrays a balance of target
achievement for all Ministry programs".
The report's description of optional plans is presented in
overview summaries of each option, in tables highlighting target
achievement and impacts of programs on each other for each option,
in a detailed statement on land use activities by zone for Option
D, and in a comparative evaluation of the four options in text and
tabular form.
The fifth section on Public Input solicits responses
and contributions from the public that would assist the Ministry
in the preparation of the final land use plan for the West
Patricia area. The sixth section, Appendiaes , consists
mainly of summaries of the Ministry's public participation program
and the responses to the Background Information report for
the West Patricia area.
Co—on Elements in the Substance of the Optional Plans
Proposed Policy and Optional Plans does not convey, in
graphic or verbal form, a clear spatial picture of the four
options' main resource allocation thrusts, operational strategies,
future land use patterns, trade-off implications, and
differentiating features. The Commission found that it could not
grasp, without considerable effort, what it is that these optional
plans are prescribing.
Appendix 14
22
This deficiency is mainly attributable to the sectoral,
activity-by-zone approach adopted for presentation, an approach
stemming from the Ministry's program-area focus in its planning.
The plan document's prescriptions for the eighteen specific
resource-based activities considered are presented for a large
number of zones, ranging from fifty for Option C to ninety for
Option B. In short, a conceptual grasp of the spatial thrust and
substance of the plan options could only be derived by synthesis
and aggregation of several thousand variables. For this reason,
one would expect most public response to the plans to comment on
their individual sectoral, activity or zonal components rather
than on the concepts and principles underlying the plans as a
whole.
The Commission's analysis sought to clarify the broad
similarities and differences associated with the four optional
plans presented for the West Patricia area.- It demonstrated that
these plans share most elements in common and, indeed, would be
almost identical were it not for considerable differences in the
location and extent of the park lands that they allocate and minor
variations in the outer perimeter of the area within which timber
harvesting would be encouraged or at least permitted.
These common elements can be illustrated in generalized
fashion by three overlapping lines (representing transitions)
extending across West Patricia and by the zones that they
delineate. Criteria for positioning these lines included
biological resource capability, patterns of settlement and
existing road access, the current type and intensity of resource
use and, of course, the optional plan prescriptions. Park
allocations are unique to each option.
The southernmost line defines the outer edge of a road access
envelope that includes all non-native settlements, almost all
year-round roads now in existence or authorized, and all
"allocation areas" already earmarked for timber harvesting in the
near future. Although two main road salients project beyond the
envelope towards Pikangikum and Windigo Lake, the line itself can
be considered to represent the western limb of the advancing
leading edge of extensive and intensive development and non-native
settlement in Ontario North of 50°.
This envelope is the most highly developed part of West
Patricia; it contains, for example, all areas that are now or have
been under active timber harvesting, major mining camps, and the
greatest concentrations of tourist base lodges and cottage
subdivisions. According to the plan document, commercial resource
production for timber, minerals, fur, wild rice and non-sport fish
species will be encouraged or permitted, with appropriate controls
being exercised to protect scenic, recreational and other
important values. The document seeks to strike a reasonable
balance between commercial tourism development and public
recreation on Crowns lands. However, in this area, use pressures
Appendix 14
SCALE 1=3^80,000
Wfest Patricia
NORTHERN LIMITS OF
Fores! Acce^^ P<j:;acl5
PotenTiorl Oorr\rr\ercja\
Tinnber {-^arvesflna
Sfrona Anglincf and
Humrtincj Pressures
- 22 -
have imposed the greatest stress on the sport fish and wildlife
resources so important to tourism and recreation. Most of the
lakes are now being fished at intensities at or above their annual
productivity levels and much of the area is being over-harvested
for moose. Consequently, any anticipated expansion in the tourism
industry will be confined mainly to enterprises promoting
water-based and backcountry activities other than fishing and
hunting.
A second line marks the outer perimeter of the area within
which, according to the plan document's proposals, timber
harvesting for commercial and personal purposes would be
encouraged or permitted. This is the area that has been covered
by the Ministry's forest inventory program. It is considered to
contain most of the hitherto unexploited stands of merchantable
timber remaining in the northwest. The line encloses the
originally proposed "Reed" tract as well as all currently
demarcated company and Crown forest management units.
The southernmost part of the area bounded by the line
consists of the road access envelope and hence is subject to the
development constraints and opportunities described above.
Farther north, a diversified array of resource production
activities is to be encouraged or permitted: forestry, mining
exploration and development, commercial fishing, trapping, and
wild rice harvesting. Most of this northern area offers
opportunities for major expansion of commercial tourist lodges and
outpost camps based on angling, hunting and other activities,
although some parts of it, adjacent to the access envelope, have
experienced severe pressures on sport fish and moose. Extensive
tracts of land and water immediately beyond the access envelope
have been assigned a priority for Crown land recreation.
Guidelines for forest reserve buffer zones (now known as "modified
management areas") along access roads and shorelines are to be
applied, as appropriate, to protect significant aesthetic,
recreational, wildlife and other values.
A third line, crossing West Patricia from the Manitoba
boundary at the Berens River to the western border of Geraldton
District at the Albany River, represents a transition zone between
areas having different potentials for new tourism development.
This line passes through both lands that have been designated for
expansion of timber harvesting and lands situated beyond. The
sport fish and wildlife resources of the area to the south,
adjacent to the road access envelope, have come under stress
because of heavy utilization pressures. Here, the growth of
tourism and outdoor recreation based on these resources is
approaching its limits. On the other hand, the more remote area
to the north offers opportunities for considerable expansion of
the tourist lodge and angling and hunting camp industry and
recreation. Even here, however, the scale of such opportunities
is not unlimited. It should be noted that the sport fish
populations of a considerable number of remote lakes, concentrated
Appendix 14
24
in the western part of this northern area, are now being exploited
at or near the sustained yield levels.
For that part of this "more-remote" north lying beyond the
edge of the "Reed" tract, the Ministry's document stipulated, with
little further elaboration, that "the importance of this area to
traditional users will be recognized". With respect to the
non-inventoried forest north of 50°22'30", the document notes,
perhaps ominously, that "At present no forest management plans
have been prepared nor have timber and mill licences been issued
" and goes on to state that,
"In the remaining zones of the Planning Area, a
'Community Forest' will be establishe